Connecting the Dots Between Your Background and a New Green Career
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Green Career Tip of the Week
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"Stop thinking in terms of limitations and start thinking in terms of possibilities."
-- Terry Josephson
The Labor Day news cycle produced several interesting new stories related to the green economy and green careers. One story I'm going to track for a while as it is too early to tell whether anything will come of it. The other two are both interesting so I'm writing about one today and one next week.
The US Department of Labor has launched a new Web site to help people figure out how to leverage the skills they have into a new career. It's going to be a valuable tool in Career One Stops around the country and is available to you as well. To discover how this tool works, read more below.
Are you trying to connect the dots between your past work history and your future green career? If so, our online coaching program, Jump Start Your Green Career, will help you discover the skills and interests that intrigue you and how you can weave them together to create a green career.
Getting two copies of our newsletter? Scroll to the bottom for instructions on how to modify your subscription.
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Tip of the Week: Connecting the Dots Between Your Background and a New Green Career
One of the challenges of finding a new job or a new career is looking at your existing skills and experience and connecting the dots to figure out which careers are a good fit for you.
I've been thinking about this process within a few scenarios.
- Whenever you try to change careers - you have to figure out how to make the leap from your original job. Ideally your new career will make for a graceful transition, allowing you to leverage skills and experience you used in the past.
- If you are attempting to transition to a green career, the bridge between what you've done and your future green career can vary. If you have skills that are transferable, the bridge may be pretty obvious. If you are targeting an emerging industry or making a leap, the bridge may be foggy at best!
- If you need a job now and you can't or don't want to turn to your original industry, you may be at a loss as to how to move your job search forward.
Connecting the Dots
The U.S. Department of Labor has unveiled an interactive site, mySkills myFuture, to help Americans find new opportunities based on their previous work experience.
The site is very easy to work with, just enter a job title you've held in the past, then click the Find My Career Matches button. Use the drop down menu to select the category of careers you want to explore. Enter your zip code and search radius, then click on Go.
The resulting page will list careers options that may be a good match for you based on a formula that compares 120 knowledge, skill, and ability elements required within each career. This KSA system is commonly used to describe what's entailed by a particular career.
When you find a career that interests you, scan across to see at a glance a brief description of the career, the number of openings in your area, salary information, and local training opportunities.
With another click you can dig deeper to:
- Access an easy-to-read chart that compares this career with your original job title. With this information you can tell what you need to do to prepare for this career in terms of your knowledge, skills, and abilities as well as required certifications and licensing.
- Job listings for this career with a direct link to apply for the job.
- A database to find training opportunities including certifications, licenses, and apprenticeships.
What About Green Careers?
Although this site is not a site dedicated to green careers, you can spot them fairly easily. Watch for the green leaf symbol.
O*NET, another US Department of Labor project that has provided the KSA's profiles for the occupations in this database, recently started a formal research project to build occupational profiles for green careers. This work is ongoing. Thus far, they've created over 150 green occupation profiles.
Keep an Open Mind
Whether you need to find a job now, or you are researching possible future careers, keep an open mind as you explore the mySkills myFuture database. You may discover careers you haven't considered before....that's the point! Remember that the career category may not be a match, but the knowledge, skills, and abilities you need to do the job are similar in all of the career ideas that come up.
During your research don't expect yourself to make a decision about a new career at first read. Instead, review a number of career profiles, evaluate the profiles as objectively as possible and then target the few ideas that are the best matches for you.
Copyright © 2010 Transition Dynamics Enterprises, Inc.
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Have You Take Our Green Career Scorecard?
While reviewing our Green Career Scorecard results recently, I noticed that one issue impacts nearly everyone...building a green network!
Save the Date
We are setting up our next free teleclass for Tuesday Sept 28, 2010.
More details next week.
Follow the Green Money
Green funds are flowing to clean energy research, a company providing wireless networks for data centers, and new solar plants to power governmental agencies.
New energy is going toward electric buses, thin solar that doesn't require rack systems, and a consolidated Internet protocol network that makes it easier for utilities to build smart grid networks.
What's New for Green Career Central Members
About Us
Green Career Central(TM) is an online coaching and resource center designed to help mid-career professionals, students, new grads, and career counselors make sense of the green economy and the green job market.
Carol McClelland, PhD, author of the award-winning, Green Careers For Dummies, is one of the nation's leading green career experts and founder of Green Career Central. Throughout her career, Carol has helped thousands of people find careers that match their values and interests.
Green Career Tips Archive
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Are You Trying to Figure Out How to Connect the Dots
Between Your Skills and Your Future Green Career?
The site described in the article can be a great tool, but identifying the skills that intrigue you most is one of the best ways to pin down your green career.
Our 8-Week Online Coaching Program Guides You to
Uncover Where Your Skills Fit Within the Green Economy
By connecting the dots between your skills and your future green career,
You discover how to articulate your green career goal
clearly, concisely, confidently, and enthusiastically.
With a clear description of your career goal,
your networking contacts are in a much better position to provide you with
a constant stream of actionable referrals and job leads.
 "I've got my green niche! The brainstorming sessions are a great tool for capturing my random thoughts and actually organizing them into cohesive career paths. Amazing! Thank you, Carol!"
-Taj, Oakland, CA
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Get Started with Your Green Career Journey
Are you passionate about finding a way to contribute to the emerging green economy?
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Copyright (c) Transition Dynamics Enterprises, Inc. 2007-2010.
All Rights Reserved.
Green Career CentralTM is a trademark of
Transition Dynamics Enterprises, Inc
PO Box 354, Menlo Park, CA 94026
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