Posts Tagged ‘green jobs’
A journey ends, one begins: the career shift
February 22nd, 2010 | 
Author: 
I am about to return from Brazil. It's been a trip long in the making, and I am glad I had this opportunity to visit this country once again.And as this journey ends, another one begins.
My interest in sustainability dates back far into my childhood, and I have been deeply vested in such issues since the early 1990s. It has only been in the last year, however, when I have decided to pursue this passion full time. It has been a fantastic ride: (more...)
Posted in International, business | 
Tags: business development, clean energy, green jobs, international business, Leon Kaye, networking | 
3 Comments »
Green Jobs Discussion, 2/25/10, Melrose area of LA, 7pm-
Believe it or not, I'm giving a presentation to a USC alumni group 2 days after I return...Thur., Feb. 25, 7pm, at the Village Idiot (no pun intended), in the Melrose area of L.A. If you think you'd like to attend, or know someone that will, please DM me on Twitter (leonkaye), or email me directly (my email is all over greengopost's site), and I will forward the invitation. I think I have a lot to say about the hype . . .
So far it is a small group, so there should be some good discussion. A fellow alum, from Brazil, will talk about his work on biofuels. He his not to be missed! Nor am I . . . :)
What Green Economy?
Yesterday, as I walked up Pico Boulevard to the Los Angeles Convention Center, a sense of doom overcame me as I saw the crowds outside the entrance on Figueroa Street.Drat, I thought. It's 10:20, it started at 10, and I won't get into the Go Green Expo. The place is mobbed, so "green" really is the rage! There will be thousands of people accosting the exhibit hall for a handful of job openings--just like what we see in the newspapers when a new hotel opens and 3000 folks queue up for 100 jobs.
I could not believe all the tension in the air. People really looked down and out. It seemed half of them were smoking cigarettes. I saw many with determined looks on their faces. It seemed that most were with their families. Such is life in LA at a time when employment is over 12%.
Will I ever get in, I thought, as I approached the glass and steel entrance.
Posted in business |
Tags: Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, Go Green Expo, green events, green jobs, greenwashing, Los Angeles |
9 Comments »
Coping With an Uncertain Green Economy
Going though a period of unemployment and career transition is frustrating. Here are some suggestions that can make this time more bearable.
During the last several months, I have met many amazing individuals who, like me, aim to transition into a green-collar job. I also know many talented people with sparkling credentials who have been out of work for months. I've been there: after 9/11, for six months after I graduated with my MBA, and now, as I try to build up my sustainability consulting firm. The statistics are brutal: 10% unemployment (so in Leon-nomics, that means 20%, if you include the people who are only working part-time, gave up looking, or are working at a job that’s far from meeting their full potential). We may be witnessing the Great "Man-cession," as some estimate that as many as 20% of men are unemployed. It's a debilitating time for many recent college graduates, who are enduring stress at a point in their lives when they should be excited about their future. Will 2010 be a breakout year for green tech? I really do not know, so we have to deal with the hand that we are dealt in the meantime. I am not a human resources expert or a job coach, but here are some pointers I want to share that have worked for me: (more...)
Build Your Network & Prospects by Email
Last month's posting on building your professional green network raised all kinds of hackles . . . and dare I say segued into expanding my network, as I have met many fantastic people since that week. I want to drill down a level, discuss email, and how it can be a tool to meeting more professionals. So whether you are in a career transition, have a sales quota and need to build your pipeline, or are a solo shop looking to build up your practice, here are some tips on composing that general email. (more...)
The Information Interview – For those new to green who are green
"What do I do now?" - Robert Redford's character in the 1971 film, The Candidate.The Information Interview. You've finally tracked down that person at that company or in that industry for which you want to work. Maybe it took a few emails or phone calls . . . perhaps you even told that person that you had some good information you wanted to share with him or her. So now you are going to meet that person tomorrow for coffee . . . and you do not want to blow it. So like Redford's character, Bill McKay, you are clueless, or just nervous, about what you should do. (more...)
Tips for the Green Business Networker
Based on a recent exchange I had with a Facebook friend collector, I felt compelled to write about networking and what works--and what does not. A couple weeks ago, someone from a Facebook group to which I belong asked to be a "friend," sending this message: "Hi, I'm also a member of the Green Business Innovators group - would love to connect!" After politely telling her I keep my Facebook and LinkedIn separate, suggested that she find me on LinkedIn, and offered to chat on the phone to see how I could help her, I received this response: "No problem."
And then . . . I got this message from her a couple weeks later:
"Hi, I'm also a member of the Green Business Innovators group - would love to connect!".
(more...)
Green Job Fairs: Beware of the Scams
Recently I went to a Green Jobs Fair sponsored by the Los Angeles Community College District. I figured it would be a good opportunity to network and meet companies; after all, few people actually get a job through such an event, so I went for the heck of it, with zero expectations. Unfortunately, my expectations were way too high. I left after 15 minutes, and felt terrible for telling a friend of mine, a recent USC grad who’s trying to land a job in the green tech sector, about this joke of an event. (more...)
Posted in air - land - quality of life, energy |
Tags: green jobs, greenwashing, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Community College District |
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You have a green job: the job you’ve got now!
Green jobs are hot right now. Well, they are a hot discussion. I'm not convinced a green job revolution is going to transform our economy and employment to the extent that the Internet boom of the 1990s had sparked. I've been to many conferences and meetings focusing on "green," where everyone is asking each other about finding that green job. Besides the issue that few can describe what a green job is . . . definition aside, there just may not be that many for a host of reasons: the regulatory climate, lack of capital, and well, the lack of demand, to put it in Econ 101 terms. But if you are gainfully employed now, you could very well make that current job green. (more...)
Posted in air - land - quality of life, construction and architecture, energy |
Tags: carbon offsets, employment, green jobs, sustainability |
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Why The Valley Will Rule
Recently I attended a "green" event in a certain neighborhood in Los Angeles. The gathering started on a dubious note. I had skipped the raw vegan dinner, which I suppose could have been appetizing. But when I showed up, I was informed the crew was running late, and the start of the discussion ended up running one hour after the planned time. Then there was the dinner scene. Dining was outside, which is always a bonus, but it was in a parking lot, which would have been acceptable had there not been a few garbage dumpsters in the lot--and the food was placed between those dumpsters and a row of garbage bins. Finally the event started, and we were welcomed to this "monumental event," hosted in what may have been a yoga room--though it felt like bikram yoga to me. I think this was supposed to be a salon of the green intelligentsia--except there wasn't much intelligence. Diversity was praised and preached--though there were zero non-white people in the room. Granted, this was an extreme example, but the experience reminded me why the epicenter of the "green revolution" will be in an area at which the the far-left activist crowd sneer: Silicon Valley. (more...)
Posted in air - land - quality of life, energy, politics |
Tags: clean energy, green jobs, Silicon Valley |
2 Comments »
Good Luck, Van
I'm very disappointed with Van Jones' decision to resign as White House environmental adviser over the weekend. I just started reading The Green Collar Economy and while I do not agree with all of his ideas, his book is an excellent read that explains how creating jobs and saving the environment are not mutually exclusive. (more...)How to Find a Green Job 101
I’ve been to many “green” events over the past several months . . . from huge conferences such as Intersolar to events in the basements of skanky restaurants where I couldn’t wait to claw myself out . . . sometimes I had just felt so “dirty” and “corporate” compared to the brownshirts with whom I was surrounded.
I’m always asked: how can I find that cool, green job? At the AQMD’s Green Tech Connect Conference, I spoke with Jaime Nack, President of Three Squares Inc., an environmental consulting firm based in Santa Monica. (more...)
Posted in air - land - quality of life, business, energy |
Tags: ARRA, employment, green jobs, Jaime Nack, SBIR, sustainability, Three Squares Inc. |
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