by Anneli C. Olila, Editor-in-Chief of Boston GreenScene / Principal of Olila Documents & Communication Strategies
In my recent discussion of green job hunting myths, I argued against the mystique surrounding the green job industry and the psychological and other barriers this presents to those hoping to transition into a green career. Responses from readers ranged from disbelief, to hesitant hope, to specific questions regarding qualifications and resources. In this article, I start to provide some data that may be useful to readers in understanding the projected growth of the green job market and where they might fit in.
What Do We Mean by 'the Green Job Market is Growing'?
According to the United States President's Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), green jobs are everywhere, and the growth of the green job market is anticipated to continue to outstrip the growth of other markets. In its July 2009 report, the CEA cited data compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) showing projected growth in environmentally-related occupations to be 38% more than all other occupations combined by 2016. This is depicted in the following figure, reproduced from page 8 of their report:
To put this into perspective, it is worth noting that the occupations
they considered were actually in a fairly limited range. Specifically,
the BLS projections drawn from in the CEA report are based on data for
the following occupations only:
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Squashing Some Green Job Hunting Myths
by Anneli C. Olila, Editor-in-Chief of Boston GreenScene / Principal of Olila Documents & Communication Strategies
Each week, I spend hours talking to job seekers of all levels—from those just graduating from school to highly-experienced C-level executives. Many are
When anyone, let alone a top-level, international, well-accomplished executive, says this to me in the midst of cataloging his or her milestone achievements—such as dramatically increasing revenue, efficiency, and organizational prestige; adeptly handling countless mergers and acquisitions; building exceptional cross-cultural and cross-functional teams; applying proven project management and Six Sigma skills; and achieving numerous patented inventions across regulatory environments—I am astonished. I am astonished as editor-in-chief of a green information portal, and I am astonished as a communications specialist who works closely with companies, schools, recruiters, and job seekers. I am also astonished just as a thinking person. There is an apparent and unfortunate mystique built around the green industry—and, frankly, around the job search industry itself—that is completely unwarranted.
Continue reading "Squashing Some Green Job Hunting Myths" »
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