Face it: You’re just a human resource, one of six billion from the rapidly multiplying species known as homo sapiens.

Okay, for whatever job you’re going for, you’re probably not in competition with six billion—but there are probably a thousand, maybe several thousand, and possibly tens of thousands of folks well-qualified and interested in the job you, too, are after. So what makes you different?

Understanding Your Brand
Your brand consists of a vision, purpose, goals, values, and passions. The vision is the big picture view of how your work serves the world. Maybe it’s for a world with a solar panel on every roof, or an energy grid that tells people how to save energy, or a carbon-neutral world.

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Following the money isn’t just a great way to track corruption to its source. It’s also a solid job search strategy.

And it can be a particularly effective way to find a job in industries, like clean tech, where most companies are somewhere in the start-up phase.

Who’s Getting the Dough
Green media sites like Greentech Media, CleanEdge, and CleanTechies regularly publish articles about who’s investing in whom. When a venture capital firm puts money into a start-up, some of that dough will pay people’s salaries. So by tracking venture capital investments, you can get a pretty good idea about companies in your focus area that are likely to be opening job requisitions soon. Then you can target your networking to try to get to know some people at that company.

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Looking for a job can feel like a lonely enterprise. Despite the dozens of emails you’ve sent, the phone calls you’ve diligently forced yourself to make, and the strangers you’ve tried to befriend at LinkedIn—not to mention your heartfelt intention to do work that changes the world for the better—some days you may find yourself alone in your apartment, your inbox collecting more e-mail newsletters and your phone silent, like it forgot it belongs to you.

You may even be tempted to give in to feelings despair. And who’s to blame you if you do. There are compelling reasons that go well beyond the job search to feel down and sometimes, it’s impossible for even the best of us not to indulge them. (more…)

Trends matter – so if you’re looking for a job, pay attention to them.

Let me explain.

If you’re trying to get a job at a clean tech company, you’re probably going to be competing for work with well-educated, savvy candidates. So even if you know a little a bit about the industry, know what sector you want to work in, and can carry on an adequately informed conversation about a company’s technology, customers, and market opportunity, you’re only going to be part way to impressing somebody in an interview.
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It doesn’t matter where you are on the green technology job hunt. Maybe you’re contemplating a career change, or you’re just starting the job hunt, or you’re deep into networking. Your ability to use your job-hunting time effectively, get the most from your networking, and prioritize your daily tasks depends on knowing what you want.

But if you’re like many job seekers, you don’t know what you want. Okay, maybe you know you want to work in the solar industry, or on sustainable transportation issues, or on a more energy efficient grid. Or maybe you know you’d love to work in any of those areas, because they’d all align with your desire to promote sustainable change in your day-to-day work. That’s all well and good. But if a hiring manager popped out of your computer and asked you, “what do you want to do?” would you be able to tell her the role, the clean tech sector, and why in 30 seconds or less?

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