Sustainable businesses and organizations continue seeking top talent to work inventing, marketing and development products and services and contribute to the greening of the globe.
These organizations operate in water and wastewater treatment, advanced materials, transportation, energy efficiency, renewable energy and agriculture, to name a few.
Best Environmental Careers Span Industry, Government
The array of businesses operating in green industries are not the only option for university graduates. Most organizations, from universities themselves to large multinational corporations, employ people to develop and manage sustainable elements of the operations.
Reports from Green Dream Jobs, a website devoted to promoting green careers, indicate that changes in the economy, even a downturn, have only a small effect on the demand for people with talent and passion to work in environmental related careers.
Green jobs are still in demand during an economic downturn because organizations often have made long-term commitments to good environmental stewardship such as sustainability programs or energy conservation and generation.
Popular Environmental Jobs Created by Government Environmental Initiatives
Governments are also helping to grow the economy by providing funding for green initiatives, all of which create a more active job market for new university graduates and more seasoned people already working in environmental-related positions.
For example, successive Canadian federal government budgets have included incentive funding for sustainable energy and green infrastructure projects. In addition, a Green Energy Fund supports clean energy research.
In the United States, the $787 billion (U.S.) stimulus bill had provisions for spending and tax credits in energy efficiency programs and other environmental initiatives.
Green jobs appear to be available at a steady and growing rate across North America.
Environmental Careers Organization (ECO) operates the largest environmental job board in Canada. Each year, the company posts most than 1,000 green careers.
In its report, Profile of Canadian Environmental Employment 2007, ECO reports 530,414 environmental employees within major industry groups across Canada. It also notes that about 10% of organizations, for a total of 105,221 organizations, across the country have one or more environmental employees.
Best Green Job Types Almost Endless
Examples of green jobs for university graduates to consider include:
- Construction managers
- Social responsibility officers
- Sustainability manager
- Forestry or agriculture officers
- Park ranger
- Nature photographer
- Socially responsible investment adviser
- Wind project engineers
- Scientific researchers
- Civil, electrical, chemical, computer, environmental engineers
- Activists
- Policy analyst for government of non-governmental organizations
University graduates seeking environmental careers have a wide range of options. These choices are not limited to traditional science-based occupations and students would be wise to considering facing the green job market armed with a degree in the social sciences and humanities.
Shelley Aylesworth-Spink - Shelley Aylesworth-Spink has worked in support of communications, marketing and advertising for nearly 25 years in the private and public ...
