Dreamwork

Finally, if you read our 2004 book, you'll find a sector-by-sector breakdown with answers to the "what's hot and what's not" question. The book is called The ECO Guide to Careers That Make a Difference: Environmental Work for a Sustainable World.

If those sources don't give you what you're looking for, here's a short list of ten job titles that seem pretty fast-growing right now. Keep in mind that "fast growing" can be measured against a very small base (with the result that the total number of jobs is still small), or it can be measured against a large base (with the result that almost anyone with a background in that field gets lots of job offers).

Kevin's extremely subjective list of growing environmental jobs:

1. Conservation biologists
2. Ecosystems managers
3. Information systems/geographic information systems specialists
4. Global climate-change scientists/researchers
5. Renewable-energy specialists/energy management
6. Environmental/land use/regional planners
7. Policy integration specialists
8. Community organizers
9. Fundraisers (nonprofit), or business development pros (for profit)
10. Industrial ecologists
11. "Dual track" environmental professionals (e.g. economics and engineering, environmental science and MBA, etc.)
12. Environmental health/public health professionals
13. Fuel-cell researchers/engineers

For another take, here's a list of "expanding professions in an eco-economy" from the Earth Policy Institute's excellent book Eco-Economy by Lester Brown:

1. Wind meteorologists
2. Family-planning midwives
3. Foresters
4. Hydrologists
5. Recycling engineers
6. Aquacultural veterinarians
7. Ecological economists
8. Geothermal geologists
9. Environmental architects
10. Bicycle mechanics
11. Wind turbine engineers

Let's start with the resources. Good places to visit regularly are: Renewable Energy Access, Clean Edge, GreenBiz.com (my favorite starting place for energy resources), Rocky Mountain Institute, American Wind Energy Association, National Hydrogen Association, Renewable Energy Policy Project, Solar Energy Industries Association, and Earth Policy Institute.

If you consider that major energy users are heating/cooling/lighting buildings, and need electricity for appliances/equipment, transportation, and manufacturing, then a few things become apparent.

First, the single most important "alternative" energy source is conservation, by far. We could generate huge numbers of jobs simply through retrofitting structures and industrial processes to be more energy efficient. Of course, these wouldn't be positions for "environmental" professionals (much less for the chattering policy class), but they would be real jobs nonetheless. If we added upgrading to passive solar when appropriate, that's many more jobs for the construction trade.

Second, if we talk just about the generation and transmission of energy, we find that renewables such as solar, wind, and biomass (taken together) create jobs at a much higher rate than non-renewable energy, when manufacturing, installation, operations, and maintenance are accounted for. Want proof? Check out an April 2004 report from the University of California's Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory.

Third, it's not for nothing that investors and policy types are salivating over the potential for the fuel-cell industry. PricewaterhouseCoopers has predicted that by 2013, North American fuel-cell companies will provide jobs for up to 108,000 people on the manufacturing side alone.

Finally, if your question is primarily focused on the transportation sector, where the popular press is likely to compare our current gasoline-powered system with a possible hydrogen future, we're clearly in the realm of speculation. But one thing is for sure and that is that we'll get two waves of jobs -- one in the retrofitting of our current infrastructure and another in operating it. With that in mind, AP writer Mark Johnson has written: "General Motors Company estimates that it would cost $11.7 billion to build 6,500 hydrogen fuel stations in 100 metropolitan areas throughout the United States, and 5,200 more on national highways."

The bottom line? If one was looking for a public and private investment that would not only result in greater national security and ecological/public health, but also in jobs, the best place to go would be renewable energy. And I haven't even touched on the thousands of research jobs that our move away from fossil fuels will create.

Are there jobs at places like the Environmental Protection Agency, Trust for Public Land, BP Solar, Tetra-Tech, Sierra Club, and other such places that "will leverage corporate business skills"? Of course there are! Every "green" business, for example, has a need for the same kind of people that all other businesses have -- finance, sales, marketing, accounting, IT, operations, PR, and so forth. And, generally speaking, green businesses (like other businesses) are aware that really talented people from another industry can bring these transferable skills to environmental businesses.

Like other industries, however, the environmental sector highly values success and experience in its own niche. If you lack such experience, you're at something of a competitive disadvantage, and you'll need to hone the sales pitch that makes people focus on the quality of what you do have, instead of the content knowledge and industry experience that you don't. That will be true of any kind of career shift, of course.

Now, about money. Since I don't know your personal situation, I can only speculate. My experience has been that people with strong managerial experience and proven results in one industry can be coached to make a good case for a roughly similar position in environmental work -- especially if they are coming from sales, marketing, finance, or IT. It's not easy, but it can be done.

If, however, you have been in a non-managerial position, or have a less-than-stellar resume, all bets are off. You may be priced out of the market because your current salary is less a marker of your ability than it is the result of "time and grade" salary increases. Once you are out of your current organization, you'll be competing against hungry, younger people who can and will work for less while producing similar results. That reality is not unique to the environmental workforce.

You asked about headhunters. There are some who specialize in the environmental sector, but usually they are looking for people who already have significant success in our niche. That's been my experience, anyway.

Finally, if the career search you hope to make is not only a jump from one industry to another, but from one whole professional field to another -- then you'll be fortunate to make the leap without a pay cut. Again, it can be done, but it's hard. For example, if you're currently a finance manager at a bank, and now want to be a conservation biologist at The Nature Conservancy (don't laugh! I get this kind of scenario all the time) -- you're not only going to take a pay cut, you're going to have to go back to school.

Try this technique: First, identify a person who is doing exactly the work that you would like to do. Be bold! Don't hold back. If your ideal job is running a scuba-diving-focused eco-tourism business in the Virgin Islands (even though you can't even swim), that's fine. Second, visit with the person you have identified and bring along a copy of your resume and a willingness to tell your personal story briefly. Third, ask the person you've identified the following question: "What is the gap I would need to close to be able to do the work that you are doing?" Fourth, really listen to the answer. Following those four steps is the very best way to get an answer to your question about whether or not you need to go back to school, and (if so) whether you actually need another degree, or just some new skill capacity.

The single most important thing to do for anyone in this situation is to narrow your focus as much as you possibly can. If you don't have a lot of room for error and risk, it's critical that you know exactly what you want to do. The more specific you are, the more effective we career-guidance people can be in helping you craft a detailed strategy that will work. Some types of positions absolutely require experience (no exceptions), while others are less picky. But generic information about which is which will be of no use to you until you have a detailed answer to the question what do you want to do?

As an aside, however, it's also important to ask yourself how badly you want to do this work. It's interesting to me that people like singers, dancers, novelists, and athletes rarely ask about how they can get started without experience, or how they can avoid pay cuts. Why? Because singing, dancing, writing, or playing is such a passion that they can't imagine not doing it.

For those who don't yet have education or experience in environmental work, it might be useful to check your passion level, as well as your degrees and the work experience line on your resume. Ask: How badly do I want this? Am I willing to try and fail?