Finding your niche in climate

Before you dive in, identify the climate solutions that you really care about and find a way to focus on implementing them. If you have never read the literature on climate solutions Drawdown by Paul Hawken is a good place to start, as is Designing Climate Solutions by Hal Harvey. You might also start by checking out Ayanna Elizabeth Johnson’s climate action venn diagram - https://www.ayanaelizabeth.com/climatevenn/.

Another approach is to find a volunteer opportunity to fight for climate solutions in your community, such as housing density, bike lanes, changing HOA rules to allow solar installations, or to start a community garden or your whatever preferred climate solution is. The opportunities are out there, and if you get started, you’ll meet the community and start to learn the ropes. More importantly, you’ll have connections to help you get a job. 

Here is my list of tricks for finding organizations and companies that work in the sectors you are interested in. 

Find and read the industry publications for the field you work in. I focus on energy, so I point to Canary Media, Heatmap.news and Utility Dive often. You can find some of these in my weekly news links. Triple Pundit is another example. While you are reading these sites, keep an eye out for the companies and organizations that are mentioned in articles. Find their websites and check out their career pages. If it is a non-profit organization, find their “friends of” page. This might also be called affiliates, or associate or partners. This will list other aligned organizations and companies that work in the same industry or advocacy areas. Go to those organizations websites and learn about them and their career opportunities. You can even start a list or spreadsheet if you are in a full-time career search. 

You can also follow influencers in these fields on social media. I recommend looking to the newer sites like Bluesky over the old ones. You can also look on LinkedIn. You can follow me and the jobs list business page. I promise you that I strive to be the least annoying person on LinkedIn (a low bar).