Do you want to make a difference in the world as well as making a living? Consider a sustainable career.
Sustainable careers are:
- Viable and coherent, with decent compensation and dignity for the working person
- Vital and meaningful, with room to bring your whole self to work guided by ethical principles and skillful action
- Socially responsible, bringing innovative thinking, courage and creativity to bear on social problems
- Environmentally restorative, minimizing current environmental costs and maximizing opportunities to restore damaged resources
To read about the concept of sustainable careers and to begin to investigate opportunities, visit GreenBiz and review their resources for information on ethics and issues relevant to sustainability.
Then talk to people in fields you're reading about. If you are a college student or graduate, ask your career office if they have a network of alumni and/or parents you can reach out to. Otherwise, reach out to the organizations that interest you and inquire about conducting an informational interview. Experiment by working with organizations doing the type of sustainable work that most intrigues you by seeking volunteer opportunities, internships, and/or jobs.
Midstream or late-career changers interested in making a change from the private sector into the non-profit sector should realize that most functions performed in the private sector will have counterparts in the non-profit sector. Donna Marino, Associate Director of Career Services at Skidmore College says "The Non-Profit Times, besides being an excellent resource for finding mid and upper level positions, publishes an annual salary survey, which might be helpful to those interested in making a change from the private sector and trying to determine realistic compensation expectations. Additionally, a mid-career person interested in making a change to a more socially conscious organization in the private sector might begin with a resource such as SustainableBusiness.com."
Wendell Berry said "The real work of planet-saving will be small, humble, and humbling, and (insofar as it involves love), pleasing and rewarding. Its jobs will be too many to count, too many to report, too many to be publicly noticed or rewarded, too small to make anyone rich or famous." Many job seekers that I speak to aren't interested in riches or fame. Rather, they are interested in earning a decent wage doing meaningful work they truly enjoy. Perhaps that is what making a difference is all about.
