Gaining an Understanding of Your Target Green Industry

Todays post is the third of four posts this month by guest author Carol McClelland on green careers. Carol will also appear live on our blog on March 18th to answer your questions about green careers. Stay tuned!!

Discovering your green niche or green focus is the first step in understanding where your skills fit in the green economy. Now your goal is to understand as much as you can about your target green industry (or green industries if you’ve got a couple of potential green career ideas).
 
Although you are excited about your idea, keep in mind that you’ve identified your green niche based on what you currently know about the green economy. Unless you’ve already done extensive research on your target industry, it’s likely that your choice of niche has been based on a combination of your knowledge, assumptions, hopes, and fears.
 
To make a solid assessment of your green niche idea, you’ll need to spend some time understanding your target industry. Use online research and networking to piece together your assessment of your target green industry.

(1) How is the industry organized? Is the industry categorized by different product categories or by different parts of a process?

(2) What opportunities is the industry facing? Where is the industry heading?

(3) What challenges are showing up for the industry? What are possible red flags?

(4) How are companies in this industry structured? What departments does the typical company have?
 
As you develop your overall picture of the green industry, explore where someone with your skills and interests is likely to be needed. How can you use your unique combination of skills, interests, education, and experience to make a contribution in your target industry?
 
Keep an open mind as you do your research. Don’t push or rush your process. You need to invest the time to get inside the industry to determine how to position yourself in your job search. Your knowledge will pay off when you begin building your resume and doing your interviews. You will stand out from the other applicants with your depth of knowledge.
 
While you are in research mode, be sure to do some due diligence to:
·         Verify that your picture of your target green career is accurate.

·         Confirm that your target green career is a good fit for you and your life.

Beware: If you leap into your job search before deepening what you know about your target industry, you may sabotage your journey by targeting a career that’s not possible or not a good fit for you.
 
In my next post, I’ll give you tips to use as you reach out to your contacts to learn more about your target industry.
 

Related Articles Career Coach Articles > Industries to Watch

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User:

Randi Bussin

Comment:

Hi Carol:
If I am interested in researching "renewable energy" as a possible career target, where would be the best place to start my research? Are there a few KEY resources that you recommend as a starting point?

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User:

Carol McClelland

Comment:

Hi Randi,

If someone wants to work in "renewable energy," it's important to start by understanding the field in general. With in depth knowledge about the industry, it's easier to determine where his/her skills and experience fit in.

Here are a few steps to take.

1) Do some general research to understand the various sources of renewable energy. Although we hear a lot about solar and wind, there are other options within renewable energy generation. In Green Careers For Dummies I profile a number of renewable energy industries above and beyond solar and wind. These industries include bio fuel, geothermal, waste-to-energy, geothermal, and tidal/marine.

Here's a great link to American Council on Renewable Energy's overview of renewable energy industries: http://www.acore.org/what_is_renewable_energy

2) One way to help decide which renewable energy industry to target is to pay attention to the renewable resources that are abundant in your geographic region. Different areas of the country are seeing growth in different industries. In general terms, solar, especially utility scale solar, is happening in the southwest. Wind generation is occurring in the plains, though wind manufacturing is happening in several areas known for manufacturing. Waste-to-energy plants tend to be in areas that generate a lot of waste.

3) As soon as you decide which renewable energy industry to target, search for the related professional/industry/trade associations. These sites tend to be an abundant source of information about late breaking industry news, training requirements and options, and industry conferences.

Each industry profile in Green Careers For Dummies includes several related associations. I've also include a few key associations here to get you started.

American Solar Energy Society - www.ases.org
American Wind Energy Association - www.awea.org

As you learn more about the industry you are targeting, begin to talk with people you meet in that industry. Using informational interviews and online research you can begin to piece together a picture of your industry - the companies in your area, the job titles that are relevant to you.

Then begins the official job search! The next step is to connect with your network to identify job opportunities.

Hope this provides a starting point.

Carol

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User:

Carol McClelland

Comment:

Hi Randi,

If someone wants to work in "renewable energy," it's important to start by understanding the field in general. With in depth knowledge about the industry, it's easier to determine where his/her skills and experience fit in.

Here are a few steps to take.

1) Do some general research to understand the various sources of renewable energy. Although we hear a lot about solar and wind, there are other options within renewable energy generation. In Green Careers For Dummies I profile a number of renewable energy industries above and beyond solar and wind. These industries include bio fuel, geothermal, waste-to-energy, geothermal, and tidal/marine.

Here's a great link to American Council on Renewable Energy's overview of renewable energy industries: http://www.acore.org/what_is_renewable_energy

2) One way to help decide which renewable energy industry to target is to pay attention to the renewable resources that are abundant in your geographic region. Different areas of the country are seeing growth in different industries. In general terms, solar, especially utility scale solar, is happening in the southwest. Wind generation is occurring in the plains, though wind manufacturing is happening in several areas known for manufacturing. Waste-to-energy plants tend to be in areas that generate a lot of waste.

3) As soon as you decide which renewable energy industry to target, search for the related professional/industry/trade associations. These sites tend to be an abundant source of information about late breaking industry news, training requirements and options, and industry conferences.

Each industry profile in Green Careers For Dummies includes several related associations. I've also include a few key associations here to get you started.

American Solar Energy Society - www.ases.org
American Wind Energy Association - www.awea.org

As you learn more about the industry you are targeting, begin to talk with people you meet in that industry. Using informational interviews and online research you can begin to piece together a picture of your industry - the companies in your area, the job titles that are relevant to you.

Then begins the official job search! The next step is to connect with your network to identify job opportunities.

Hope this provides a starting point.

Carol

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