Career Guide: Tips for MBAs: SGE

Step 1: The most important step! Begin by scheduling an appointment with your professional career advisor, Monica Touesnard. She will help you define your career goals and coordinate your efforts. She can help you make the connection between your background and interests to potential roles and types of employers.

After meeting with Monica, read suggested career books and outline your approach. Some suggested titles are listed.

Step 2: Target your search by creating lists of companies in specific regions or industries. Create a list of potential contacts at each company.

Step 3: Research the companies you are interviewing with and the industries they are in. See suggested resources for company and industry research below.

Step 4: Talk to Monica, second-year students, and alumni about jobs, companies, and interviewing.

Pay attention to advice on how to contact alumni and potential employers. Learn how to craft an engaging message to get your foot in the door. You want to make a good first impression!

Before going into any interview, regardless of whether or not it is sustainability-related, it is important to be well-versed about the company and its industry as well its mission, vision and values. In addition to researching the companies and industries you are interviewing for, review information in the interview database section of JPAY such as the types of questions asked by the different companies and functions.

Company Research

Find the company's website, then find their values, mission statement, culture, and investor relations. If the company is publicly traded, search for their investor relations website to get the latest financial filings (8K, 10Q, and 10K reports), presentations, press releases, and letter to shareholders. If you company is not publicly traded, go to their website to read up about the company and view any press releases. Be sure to check out the company's social media channels.  Below are additional tools to use to learn about the company.

Industry Research

Apart from searching news sources for information on a company, also check out these two databases that are specifically made for investors interested in a company's record on sustainablity.

Sustainability in the workplace is more of a way of doing a job rather than a specific job focus. As the UN report, Green Jobs, states "many existing jobs ... will simply be transformed and redefined as day-to-day skill sets, work methods, as profiles are greened." Still, there are some websites that list positions for jobs with a sustainability focus. Below is a list of some of the more common job resources.

Sustainability-Related Job Boards

• BWork: The place to find jobs at companies that care about the planet, people, as well as profit. 
   
• BSR Sustainability Careers: Find sustainability job postings at BSR and its member companies.
• Diversified Search Group: Non-profit job postings
• DevEx: Connects and informs development, health, humanitarian, and sustainability professionals through news, business intelligence, and funding & career opportunities in international development
• Exec-Appointments.com: Site based in the UK (Financial Times) with international listings for environmental positions
• GIIN: Global Impact Investing Network
• Good Food Jobs: A gastro-job search tool, designed to link people looking for meaningful food work with the businesses that need their energy, enthusiasm, and intellect
• Green Careers: Greenbiz.com's listings of various environmental jobs. Positions range from accountants for renewable energy firms to solar panel installers to marketing executives
• Green Dream Jobs: SustainableBusiness.com's listings of positions; primarily environmentally geared
• Idealist.org: Connects millions of idealists – people who want to do good – with opportunities for action and collaboration all over the world
• 3BL Media: The leading community for CSR and sustainability news and content
• Net Impact: Emphasis on using business skills in support of various social and environmental causes
• Next Billion: A community of business leaders, social entrepreneurs, NGO managers, policy makers, academics and others exploring the connection between development and enterprise
• Non-Profitjobs.org: Connecting mission-driven talent with organizations important to our civic infrastructure
• Solar Energy Industries Association: SEIA coordinates with training providers and certification organizations to provide information on how to start a solar career
• Sustainable Food Jobs: Provides job opportunities available in the domestic sustainable food and agriculture sector.

   

   

Associations are great places to get contact information for networking. Here are a few examples to get you started.  You can either use Associations Unlimited or Google an industry + "associations" to search for more examples.

Sustainability-Related Job Boards

Development - Business opportunities in low-income markets

• National Association of Development Organizations
• National Association of Community Economic Development Associations

Impact Investing - Investing for financial return, social impact, and environmental impact.

• Investor's Circle

Renewable Energy - Naturally Replenished: Solar, wind, biofuel, geothermal, tidal

• Renewable Energy Trade Associations in the United States

Non-Profit - Surplus funds are used to support organization goals, not distributed to owners or shareholders

• National Council of Non-Profits

Clean Tech - Renewable energy, recycling, green transportation, etc.

• Green Business Network

Corporate Social Responsibility - Business Compliance to laws and ethical standards​

• Business for Social Responsibility
• Corporate Responsibility Officer Association

Food/Agriculture - Bringing sustainable practices to the food industry

• Sustainable Food Trade Association

Keeping up-to-date on a daily basis is key to smoothly absorbing the larger trends and subtle nuances of an industry. Sustainability issues impact all industries and functions so read the news daily. Many publications related to social sustainability are produced by governments, non-governmental organizations (NGO), and academia.

General Resources:

• Fast Company

The world's leading progressive business media brand, with a unique editorial focus on innovation in technology, leadership, and design.

• Harvard Business Review

A general management magazine focused on strategy, innovation and leadership, for global leaders from the world's best business and management experts

• Smart Brief

Industry-specific daily news. You can subscribe to newsletters specific to Food and Beverage, Health Care, Retail, Energy, Tech, among other industries. An ideal way to get targeted news from a variety of sources all in one spot.

• Wall Street Journal

Covers breaking news and current headlines from the US and around the world. Register for a free account here: https://partner.wsj.com/partner/cornelluniversity

Sustainability Career Books

General Career Books

Blogs

Green Biz - http://www.greenbiz.com/

Joel Makower – www.makower.com/blog

Marc Gunther – https://marcgunther.medium.com/

Triple Pundit – www.triplepundit.com

Relevant Podcasts

Food Startups Podcast - http://www.foodstartupspodcast.com/

Greentech Media Squared (GTM2) - https://www.greentechmedia.com/squared/learn-more

Sustainable World Radio - http://sustainableworldradio.com/podcasts/  (ecology and permaculture podcasts)

The CERES Sustainability Podcast - https://www.ceres.org/accelerator/financing-net-zero-economy/podcast (ongoing conversation with investors, corporations, policy makers and public interest groups about how they are adapting business strategies and financial markets to address the risks and opportunities of climate change and other sustainability issues.)

The Energy Gang - https://www.greentechmedia.com/podcast/the-energy-gang