Building a Climate Career in Finance and Utilities

Starting a Career in Climate feels like being lost in the desert. To find water, you must first ignore everyone telling you this 👇 We all know the people who tell you. → If you try hard enough, it’ll work. → Just apply for more jobs → It’s a numbers game. → Next week is better. Ignore all those words. Here’s what you do instead 👇 1️⃣ Fundamentals first Look at the entire climate economy. Pick two sub-sectors. → Start with the solutions map from Climate Drift. → Use the Project Drawdown solution library to drill deeper. Learn everything you can about your 2 sectors. 2️⃣ Find your Transferable Skills Most people completely underestimate their professional skills. Write down the answer to: “What am I really good at and why?” Then find your current job within a climate company. And map your skills to that job. 👉 Share “what you’re really good at” in the comments. I will give feedback + it will inspire others + it will help you become better 💪 3️⃣ Find your Pitch Find somebody doing your “future” job in a climate company. Ask them how they do their job. Pay attention to: → How they describe their work. → What tools do they use. → What KPIs matter. Focus on their words. Learn the language of a climate company in your target sector. And then use that intel to refine your pitch. 👉 Find people to talk to here: → #OpenDoorClimate climate by Daniel Hill has many climate tech execs.  → MCJ Collective by Jason Jacobs, Yin Lu, Leone Baron is one of the best. → Work on Climate by Eugene Kirpichov, Eva Marina, Nicole Sturzenberger is equally great. 4️⃣ Think Skills-Sector Fit. Not Impact. Everyone wants to work on something with a huge CO2 impact. That’s great. BUT Don’t re-invent yourself so you can work in a “big impact” sector. Go where your skills fit best. Where you can actually move the needle. Because the best impact is the impact that happens. Not the impact you keep chasing but never materializes. Use this list to find water in the desert. And make yourself successful 🙌 —— PS. In case you’re wondering ❓Why trust my advice❓ Maybe this helps (slightly blushing as I write this 😳) → I taught 100s of students at the best universities (Harvard, etc.) → Personally helped 1,000s of people transition careers. → Built a 6-figure, 7-figure, and a 8-figure business. → Advising 10+ early stage impact companies. PPS. 👉 If you want help with your career transition? 👈  Here are two options: 👉I’m offering 50 Free 1on1 Career Mentorship sessions (I have 200+ people on the waitlist 🤯) 👉I’m running a 1-day Climate Career Transition Workshop (Links in first comment).

My career began in International Development, although I’ve been in corporate #sustainability for ~8 years now. Sharing my thoughts on this pivot for those considering a switch. * Much of my network has been impacted by the recent #stopwork orders. My heart is with you, friends. I hope many of you will be able to return to your careers, by some legal or legislative miracle. But, if you’re considering a switch, here are some things to consider about pivoting your passion for impact into a corporate career: 1. There’s no ✨magic door✨ —> A successful pivot into the corporate world, especially corporate sustainability, is like most other careers: ——> Your chances will be greatly improved by highlighting transferable skills and building a strong network. —> Ultimately, my pivot was made possible because someone in my network understood my skillset and vouched for me. I recorded a Voiz Academy podcast about my journey here: https://lnkd.in/gRURuwmi 2. Be clear about your transferable skills ✅ —> In corporate sustainability, we need people who have: - Technical expertise in human rights, agriculture, the environment, and global supply chains. - Project/ program management backgrounds with a focus on cost management and impact measurement. - Experience speaking pursuasively, to different audiences, often with competing priorities. - The ability to thrive in high-pressure and/ or ambiguous situations, demonstrating flexibility and innovation when faced with challenges. 3. Expand your network 🤝 —> Daniel Hill started the #opendoorclimate movement. —-> People who work in #climate, including corporate sustainability folks, have joined this movement and are offering to chat with anyone interested in making the switch. —-> Take advantage of this global resource 4. Consider upskilling and/ or career coaching 🎓 —> Although not essential, you might consider taking a course to develop your skillset. Something like: - Climate Drift has a Career Accelerator for mid-career and executive level professionals transitioning into the climate sector. —-> Next cohort starts February 24th - The Voiz Academy has both career coaching and climate upskilling options, especially for roles like Decarbonization Analyst and Sustainability Analyst. - PCDN.Global has a more broad social impact offering, and I can’t say enough good things about career coaching from Craig Zelizer. 5. Keep a close eye on global supply chain regulations. ⚖️ —> Get to know CSRD, CS3D, EUDR, and others. —-> These have been and will continue to be highly influential in the corporate space. —> As these evolve, so too will corporate sustainability. Position yourself with this context in mind. * Who else has made this pivot? What did I miss? * #SustainableAgriculture

𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗴𝗼, 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗮 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗷𝗼𝗯—𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗺𝗲𝗱. So many solutions, so many paths. I made plenty of mistakes before I found my niche. If I could go back, here’s what I wish I knew: 🔬 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀. I started with books like ‘How to Avoid a Climate Disaster’ by Bill Gates and Speed&Scale by John Doerr. These books were helpful, but were very tech and VC-centered perspectives. Project Regeneration’s Cascade of Solutions was ultimately a better, more objective, and comprehensive resource. 📕 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀. Work on Climate’s #i-got-a-job channel is full of successful climate transition journeys by engineers, designers, marketers, PhD candidates, and more. 👋 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆. Terra was mine, but My Climate Journey (MCJ), Work on Climate, or Job Search Councils are great options. 😡 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. What do you want to protect from climate change? Who do you want to build for? What pisses you off? Your answers can point you to your niche. ⚓ 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲. If possible, keep your role & location the same while switching to climate—it makes the transition easier. 🚗 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀: come up with 2-3 ideas for where you might fit. This could be a climate solution (residential solar), a type of organization (large environmental nonprofit), or even a way to effect change in your current role. Use networking, side projects, or small actions to validate your fit. 🤝 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲: The Open Door Climate directory is full of folks happy to chat. After many twists & turns, I focused on software product management roles at climate tech startups where business and climate incentives were aligned. This led me to organizations like food waste and renewable energy, and away from areas like carbon removal. What climate niches are you interested in? How are you finding where you fit?