Certainly building wind turbines or solar panels are considered green collar jobs, but any career path that makes a positive impact on the environment, sustainability and energy efficiency could be considered green collar. If it’s time to start job hunting, consider some of these resources to help you land your dream green job:

1. Straight to the Source

A good place to start is identifying a few companies you’re interested in working for. Instead of combing endless job postings, go straight to the company’s own job board.

In 2010, Newsweek examined the top 500 companies in the United States and ranked them based on which companies were the greenest. The top five green companies include Dell, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Johnson & Johnson and Intel.[1]

2. Tune Up Your Skills

When you’re searching for a job, it seems like all employers want is experience, experience, experience.

If you’ve got talents like construction or landscaping, but aren’t familiar with green practices, volunteering or seeking a green internship can hone your skills for free. This increases your networking and sometimes leads to long term employment if you prove yourself valuable.

3. Study Up

When you’re interviewing for a job, having some knowledge about the background of the company and what they value is critical. In green industries, people are especially passionate about their work. Reading up on some basic facts about global warming or greenhouse gasses should help increase your green IQ.

The more you learn about the green industry, the easier it will be to find your niche. The Green Collar Blog has info to help job seekers with all different kinds of backgrounds find green jobs.

4. Social Media

More and more these days our identities are becoming intertwined with our Facebook profiles and Twitter accounts. For an industry on the cutting edge, proficiency in social media can be critical to green jobs. Connecting through social media is a great way to start or get involved with environmentally friendly projects.

5. The Department of Labor

When he was running for office, President Barrack Obama pledged to spend $150 billion over 10 years to create 5 million green collar jobs.[2] While we have to wait and see how his pledge works out, The Department of Labor is doing their part to get citizens involved with green jobs. They have information about green jobs in all 50 states, links to green job postings and green job legislation.

6. The Job Corps

The Job Corps has been around since the 1930’s with the goal of giving young people age 16-24 free vocational training to start their careers. In recent years they’ve put an emphasis on specialized green training. Some of the careers you can train for with Job Corps include hybrid car manufacturing, green building, waste composting and energy retrofitting.

7. Idealist.org

Idealist is sort of like a one stop shop for everything green career related. Their job search site allows you to search for thousands of jobs across multiple industries. They also have information about volunteer opportunities, events, career fairs and much more.

8. Green Job Board

The Green Job Board gets right down to the business of finding a green job. Their simple search tool can find you a wealth of green jobs in your area. If you’re looking to get more specialized, they have links to green jobs by city, state and category.

9. Environmental Career Center

The Environmental Career Center lets you create a profile and upload your resume to their website. Their search tool helps you find job postings and career events going on in the green industry. They also have numerous featured green employers so you can learn more about leading companies.

10. Jobs for Change

Change.org started as a way for people to stand up for causes they believe in. They’ve now evolved with a website that helps job seekers find jobs that make a difference. In addition to their database of jobs they have career advisors, career blogs and job searching tips.

1. Newsweek. (n.d.). “Green Rankings 2010.” Retrieved April 16, 2011 from the Newsweek website: http://www.newsweek.com/feature/2010/green-rankings.html.

2. Walsh, Bryan. (May 26, 2008). “What Is a Green-Collar Job, Exactly?” Retrieved April 17, 2011 from the Time website: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1809506,00.html.

Author Info: Brandon Farestad-Rittel writes about green ways to keep more green in your pocket. Check out more of his work at sites like CouponSherpa.com to find out how to save money at eco-friendly stores like Gaiam and Eco Paper.

Syndication Info: This content has been syndicated by Nathan Brown, the targeted recruiter for Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage’s solar power internships and promoter of do it yourself solar.

Sources
[1] http://www.newsweek.com/feature/2010/green-rankings.html

[2] http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1809506,00.html

Got an idea for a green collar job training program?

Together we can bring Green Jobs to Hawaii Island but we need your help!

We need to create model programs to train a greener workforce. Your idea could lead to funding, training and employment.

Click here for more details

Click here to download PDF flyer
Green Collar Jobs Funding – Employer Workshop

An employer workshop to be held
Thursday, August 13th 9:00 am to 11:00 am registration: 8:30 am

Workforce Development Division Presentation Room

1990 Kino`ole Street, Suite 102
(Next to Kawate Seed Shop)

Green Collar Jobs and Greener Economies
Brent Norris, Green Collar Technologies

Green Job Employer
Michael Kaleikini, Puna Geothermal Venture

• John Carroll, Hawai`i Island Workforce & Economic Development Ohana

• Alex Frost, Hawai`i County Research & Development Department

• Susan Akiyama, Office of Housing & Community Development

In partnership with:

• Hawai`i Island Workforce & Economic Development Ohana

• Hawai`i County Workforce Investment Board

• Hawai`i Island Chamber of Commerce

• Japanese Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Hawai`I

• Kanoelehua Industrial Area Association

• Big Island Workplace Connection

Call Bunnie Au-Suehiro at 981.2860 ext. 236 for registration & payment information.

Workforce Development Division
1990 Kino`ole Street, Suite 102
(Next to Kawate Seed Shop)

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Stimulus money) Resources for Hawai`i Island
An effort to provide organized resources for Hawai’i Island businesses, non-profit organizations and government agencies seeking grants and funding initiatives from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Green-Collar Job Resources for Hawai`i Island
An efffort to provide resources for employers, job seekers, green collar workers and various organizations interested in learning more about Green Collar Jobs on Hawai’i Island.

Sustainable practices for improving our local economy, community and environment are one of the top priorities in the Community Development Plans for North Kohala, South Kohala, North and South Kona, and Puna Districts.

In support of this resolution, Green Collar Technologies has agreed to research and produce a report for the Sustainable Living Institute as part of a project for Hawai`i County Research and Development. In addition to organizing and implementing eight sustainable living workshops Green Collar Technologies will produce a Green Job Environmental Scan as part of an early CDP implementation action in West and East Hawai’i.

By facilitating discussions with local businesses and identifying emerging green sectors we hope to learn answer to the following questions:

• What is the current and future capacity for green jobs in sustainable industries on Hawai`i Island?
• Where can the County have the most positive impact in the area of green jobs?

Green Collar Technologies will coordinate, collaborate and learn from key business stakeholders to facilitate the discussion, compile the data, and deliver the first green jobs environmental scan and current status of sustainable industries on Hawai`i Island to prepare our island for emerging federal funding opportunities.

Methodology
Working within the contexts of current planning and research efforts, Green Collar Technologies will communicate, coordinate and cooperate with Hawai`i County Research and Development to identify, convene, and facilitate discussion with major stakeholders on the island. 

The Green Job Environmental Scan, containing materials from all presenters at eight workshops and information from facilitated discussion with local green business community will be used as basis for producing a Hawaii Island Green Job Environmental Scan and made available for free download as a pdf file from the Internet.

The report will result in names and numbers which uncover specific capacities in areas of green employment in easy to understand text, charts, graphs and data visualizations which best communicate the findings to help set the stage for R&D strategic planning and potential federal funding.

Work on this project is subject to change without notice and will be performed in accordance with the Hawaii County Code of Ethics and in the public interest.

Look for results of the report in PDF format to emerge Q2 2009.

Your comments are appreciated (below).

First, Global Insight redefines green jobs: 

“any activity that generates electricity using renewable or nuclear fuels, agriculture jobs supplying corn or soy for transportation fuel, manufacturing jobs producing goods used in renewable power generation, equipment dealers and wholesalers specializing in renewable energy or energy-efficiency products, construction and installation of energy and pollution management systems, government administration of environmental programs, and supporting jobs in the engineering, legal, research and consulting fields.”

We’ve added this to our Green Collar Jobs Definition, draft study. Second, we’ve got some new green jobs numbers: We’ll take this a step further when we conduct our own research. Key correlations between the job numbers, employers, workers and agencies will be taken into account. Much of the researchin the report is “scenario-based.”

A couple more quotes I find interesting in the report:

“In this report, the U.S. Conference of Mayors and Global Insight have examined the economic benefits of the ‘Green Economy’ – that part of economic activity which is devoted to the reduction of fossil fuels, the increase of energy efficiency, and the curtailment of greenhouse gas emissions.”

The report also states in part,

“Green Jobs in 2006 were distributed across the country. Approximately 85% were located in metropolitan areas while the remaining 15% were in non-metropolitan counties.”

The footnote states,

“Green Jobs 2006 totals for Metropolitan areas include all categories except Renewable Power Generation.”

A couple paragraphs up the report states,

“We estimate that as of 2006 there were just more than 750,000 Green Jobs in the U.S. economy. More than half of existing jobs were in Engineering, Legal, Research and Consulting, revealing the importance of these indirect jobs to the Green Economy. The second largest category was Renewable Power Generation, with more than 127,000 jobs.”    

Download the full report by Global Insight in PDF format from the U.S. Global Mayors Website.  

Knowing these issues can help us all identity opportunities and threats to strengthening Hawai`i’s digital economies. These issues are important to anyone wishing to support a strong digital economy in Hawai`i.

I’ve shortened the Wired article into the following scorecard (link to full post at bottom): 

Broadband Grade:  
McCain: D
Obama: B 

H1B Visas Grade:
McCain: B+
Obama: C

Green Tech Grade:
McCain: B
Obama: A

Net Nuetrality Grade:
McCain: D
Obama: A

Spectrum Grade:
McCain: B
Obama: B

Read the full post at Wired.com:

Obama vs. McCain: The Wired Scorecard

Brent.fm post on TV Whitespaces includes video from Google.

Local comments below, national comments at Wired please.

By convening existing stakeholders in sustainable industries we hope to bring additional focus to the needs and requirements for Green Collar Jobs on Hawaii Island. By welcoming emerging and future leadership in sustainable practices we can insure a group that thrives and continues to support Green Collar Workers for the next decade.

This multi-stakeholder group comprised of business, government, workforce boards, education and nonprofit leaders can help provide experience, guidance, advocacy and specific recommendations and analysis compatible with a Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (see HCRC website for related FSSD information). 

The Green Collar Jobs Commission can help ensure market-based deployments of green jobs are matched with outcome-based needs in policy, education and federal funding guidelines in accordance with the Green Jobs Act of 2007.

Through a Green Collar Jobs Commission (GCJC), qualitative analysis can be considered in a multi-stakeholder environment in 2009. Quantitative analysis from the DOL and BOL can be folded in as it becomes available.

Green collar technologies and manufacturing continue to grow. The GCJC can provide the insight necessary for policy makers to meet the demands of private business while recommending paths for education to ensure longterm adoption and implementation of a greener economy.  

A Green Collar Jobs Commission can measure impact and capacity to help families, schools, businesses and other social organizations embrace Green Collar Jobs. You can help.

Participation in the Green Collar Jobs Commission helps (no particular order):

• Secure additional funding for programs in accordance with the Green Jobs Act
• Strategically define Green Collar Workers and 
• Develop capacity for Green Collar Jobs on Hawai`i Island
• Support employers, educators and policy makers
• Research and obtain funding for appropriate green jobs programs
• Share, research and test ideas for new green jobs programs
• Help reproduce successful programs
• Avoid duplication of effort when less than useful
• Further develop and aid leadership in sustainability
  • Standard set of communication protocols
  • In person and online meetings (keep it green)
• Articulate business case for sustainability action plans

Last Update 08/24/09

A Green Collar Worker? Below is a compilation of definitions with questions to help trigger questions and increase discussion.