Climate Jobs Workshop
Land your dream climate job
By: Eric Li
Founder, Green Career Coach
01 | Mute your microphone, but turn on your camera if you feel comfortable doing so. |
02 | In the chat, share where you're calling in from and the job title or role you're aiming for |
03 | Drop questions into the Zoom Q&A |
While we wait
Today's Agenda | |
What we'll learn: | |
| Why work on climate? Resumes & cover Letters An effective & sustainable job search Figure out where you fit in climate Q&A |
I'm Eric, Founder of Green Career Coach |
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My mission is to help anyone who wants to work on solving climate change, do so. |
About Me
Why work on climate?
The world needs you. Now.
"Climate change is a threat to human well-being and planetary health (very high confidence). There is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all (very high confidence)...The choices and actions implemented in this decade will have impacts now and for thousands of years (high confidence)."
Climate funding is growing worldwide & good for your career
Source: Holon IQ
Resumes & Cover Letters
How to land interviews & save time
5 resume tips to land interviews
01 | Find 3-5 JDs for each role | 02 | Identify skills that are mentioned first |
Save these in a doc for easier annotation & easy reference in case the role is taken down | Skills, requirements, & responsibilities mentioned first tend to be more important than those listed later | ||
03 | Identify skills that are mentioned most often | 04 | Watch for tone |
Look for repetition & themes. The more often a skill comes up, the more important it is | Is the tone formal, casual, aspirational? Keep the tone of the JD in mind when crafting your application. |
The skills in the job description drive everything in the resume
1. Understand Success
Make it easy for recruiters to connect you to the role and they'll keep reading and consider you for an interview.
2. Put yourself in a box
A. Edit summary & skills
B. Focus your work history
C. Test with a friend
Mention the job title in your summary section
Tailor your skills section to match the JD
Minimize or remove positions that don't align well with the JD
Additional irrelevant experiences distract the reader & add noise
Give your resume to a friend and ask them to guess the title you're applying for.
If they guess right in < 10 seconds, then you're all set
3. Don't bury the lead
If your most recent experiences aren't your most relevant ones, consider alternative resume formats
Chronological
Hybrid
Functional
What: your experiences listed in reverse chronological order
Advantage: easy to read, most familiar & universal
Disadvantage: pushes your most relevant experiences down
What: balanced view of your skills & experiences
Advantage: emphasizes most relevant skills up top
Disadvantage: less familiar format for readers
What: skill focused resume, much less emphasis on experiences
Advantage: emphasizes skills, can make work gaps less obvious
Disadvantage: less familiar format, can come off as hiding something
Put your most relevant, impressive experiences up top to make a strong first impression & keep the recruiter reading
4. Frame your experiences
Template
Example
Why this works
5. Quantify with the XYZ formula
Formula
Achieved X, as measured by Y, by doing Z
Examples
What to quantify
Bonus: Resume templates
Chronological & hybrid formats included
3 cover letter tips to get interviews & save time
Tailor a good template
Lead with your value
Write & reuse paragraphs
What: create a high quality cover letter template that you can quickly tailor for each role
Why this helps: structure speeds up the writing process, whereas blank pages do not.
What: tell a memorable story about the value you've delivered before and tie it back to the role
Why this helps: companies hire to solve problems, so make it easy for them to see how you can help.
Turn the cover letter writing into a repeatable process to save time, while still writing personalized, high quality letters
What: write paragraphs focused on a specific skill, point, or impact; then save it for reuse later
Why this helps: don't reinvent the wheel each time, start with what you've already written.
Bonus: Cover letter template
An effective & sustainable job search
Focus on what matters & what works
4 tips for an effective & sustainable job search
1. Target your search
A. Use 'still hiring' lists
B. Use funding alerts
C. Focus on recency
2A. Track, iterate, & work the funnel
Job offers come from:
A) Apply enough & apply right
B) Increase success rate
2B. Follow a sustainable search process, track, & iterate until it works using this job search tracker
Follow a repeatable, sustainable search process
Track your results to identify & focus on what works
3. Hone your skills
Why sharpen your skills
What to work on
Helpful resources
Strengthens your application & increases your odds
Builds your confidence by mastering something that is in your control
Adds variety to the job search process beyond applying
The first & most frequently listed skills in job descriptions
Double down on strengths you already have & shore up any weak areas
Coursera: courses from top universities (Stanford, Duke) & top companies (Google, Intuit)
Udemy: courses from individual instructors
All are self-paced, reasonably priced, & grant certificates
4. Find a friend
Figure out where you fit in climate
Why & how to focus
3 ways to find where you fit in the climate space
01 | Simplify learning | 02 | Improve networking |
Make it easier for you to learn the space, language, and trends by focusing | Build up a strong enough network to get referrals faster | ||
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03 | Develop confidence | 04 | Save time |
Confidence comes from learning, expertise, & practice. The fewer areas you target, the easier it is to build confidence. | Save time by focusing on a fewer industries & areas | ||
Aim for 2-3 industries and 1-2 roles, then test these directions
Focus & find your fit to get more offers
Segment | Options |
Tech risk | Tech proven to work at scale in the real world Unproven tech under development / yet to be scaled |
Market risk | Solution with significant traction (revenue, climate impact) |
Sector | Energy, Transportation, Food, Agriculture, Buildings, Sequestration, Education, etc |
Org Type | For-profit, non-profit, government |
Size & stage | # of employees Stage: seed, series A, B, C, etc |
Functional role | Design, Engineering, Data, sales, marketing, product, etc |
Product type | Hardware, software, policy, research, etc |
1. Segment the market
2. Use a climate impact framework
| Mitigate (emit less) | Sequester (capture) | Adapt |
% of the path to net-zero emissions | ~80% | ~20% | N / A |
Impact certainty | High | Low | High |
Impact timing | Short-term | Medium to long-term | Short-term |
Impact permanence | High | Uncertain | Medium |
Other risks | None | Perverse incentive risk | None |
Market & tech risks | Low to medium | High | Low to medium |
3. Reflect
Ikigai
5 year odyssey plans
Questions?
Check out Green Career Coach for more
Learn about climate career coaching
Learn about resume / application support
Thanks!
How would you want to be remembered as a leader?
Connect with me on LinkedIn |
Email me eric@greencareercoach.com |
Slack me @Eric Li in the Terra, MCJ, or Work on Climate Slack communities |