Last season, South Park did a brilliant episode about Vampire Kids. Twilight (the movie) was huge and all the preppy kids at South Park Elementary began dressing like vampires, wearing fangs, and drinking fake blood.
The craze infuriated the “Goth” kids of South Park, who had been wearing eye-makeup and trench coats long before the vampire trend. All of a sudden they were being referred to as “Vamp” along with all the posers. Nobody cared about their genuine commitment to darkness because darkness was main stream. The Goth kids had to look for new ways to stand out because darkness no longer set them apart.
I bring this up because, in the career world, "Green" is the new "Goth."
Everybody’s going green, which means that your desire to help the planet no longer sets you apart from other candidates in the job market. It is admirable, but not memorable. If you want to stand out, you need to specify a “shade” of green to pursue. Start by answering the following questions:
Do you want to work directly on environmental initiatives or on traditional business initiatives for a company that is environmentally-aware?
What is your functional focus? More specifically, what do you actually what to DO in your sustainable organization? Non-profit or for-profit, you still need to develop professional skills. Marketing, engineering, finance, and human resources all apply to green business.
In your quest to go green, don’t lose sight of the workplace basics. At the end of the day your job is to add value to an organization. Again, your desire to go green is admirable, but your specific skills and experiences will make you memorable.
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