Landing a job or internship is no easy task. Before you even reach the often stressful interview stage, you have to find open positions you’re interested in which can be hard to find. Keep reading for some tips on how to find sustainability and environmental related jobs and internships on LinkedIn. These tips can be easily adapted to other career fields as well.
Before you get started connecting with people and following organizations and job boards, make sure your LinkedIn profile is up to date. In your about section, you can share that you’re looking for a sustainability related position and if you have any past work or volunteer experience you can talk a bit about that here and add more details in their respective sections.
- Set job alerts
Click on the “jobs” button on the header and then click “job alerts” to set one. You search for a type of job you’re interested in and then click the slider button to set an alert. LinkedIn will then email you with job listings in this category so you don’t have to always be searching. For example you could search “environmental scientist” or “sustainability consultant.” When searching you can also filter by job type (internship, full-time, part-time, contract, or volunteer) in addition to many other filters.
- Follow organizations such as Green Jobs Board and Green Jobs Network
Green Jobs Network, founded in 2008, posts consistently about sustainability and climate related job openings and has its own jobs newsletter. They also have individualized job boards and websites for green jobs, climate jobs, remote jobs, fellowships, and internships.
Green Jobs Board is similar but much newer, founded in 2022, and claims to be “the most transparent and accessible career platform on the market.” They also have a robust website, an active presence on Instagram, and a newsletter.
You can find inspiration for similar pages by checking out the “Pages people also viewed” tab
- Follow companies you’re interested in working for
Companies will often post on LinkedIn when they’re hiring so following them is a great way to stay in the know. These could include big organizations such as the US EPA or the World Wildlife Fund in addition to companies you like that are not necessarily only focused on the environment but may have roles you’re interested in.
- Follow or connect with people working in the green industry
Did you know you can follow people on LinkedIn instead of connecting with them? This is a great option if you don’t know the person but you still want to see what they post. They may share company openings or reshare other companies hiring posts.
While it’s easy to connect with your friends and any current coworkers on LinkedIn, you can also try connecting with people such as class speakers or those you’ve met at a networking event. Someone came to visit my Environmental Law and Policy class last year and I thought their career was really interesting and I was able to successfully reach out over LinkedIn and connect with her.
Finally, just remember that you don’t need to be an environmental scientist to make a difference. Environmental-focused companies need more than just scientists and engineers to function; they need marketers, accountants, assistants, designers, etc. to make a full team.
Written by Sarah Woodams ‘24(T5)
Photo by Souvik Banerjee on Unsplash