Climate career guidance for Master's students

Read this if you’re new to climate work and looking for a job 🙏🏼 When I first stepped into climate and sustainability, it felt like learning a new language. There was jargon. There were models. And there were moments when I thought I would never catch up. I’m still learning. Every single day. But over time, I’ve found a few practical steps that keep me on track with my learning. If you’re starting out whether you want to consult, invest, research, or build solutions consider this a roadmap you can adapt: Step 1: Build your own content library Skip random blogs. Go straight to the sources real practitioners use. Here are 10 you can start with: 1. IEA Net Zero Roadmap – Global decarbonisation trajectories 2. IFC Climate Business Reports – Financing mechanisms & case studies 3. World Bank Climate Action Plans – Policy trends and priorities 4. Climate Policy Initiative – Sectoral investment pathways 5. Ellen MacArthur Foundation – Circular economy frameworks 6. UNEP Emissions Gap Report – Global progress and shortfalls 7. CDP Reports – Corporate disclosure data on emissions and risks 8. Project Drawdown – Solutions catalogue for mitigation 9. WRI Climate Watch – Data and tools for national policies 10. TNFD & TCFD Guidelines – Climate and nature-related financial disclosures Step 2: Use NotebookLM to learn actively I upload PDFs into NotebookLM (Google’s AI reading tool) to: – Summarise documents (earlier my biggest hurdle to learning well was taking a very long time on reports - a fact that used to kill my enthusiasm to learn) – Generate mind maps to see the big picture – Listen to audio summaries while walking – Ask clarifying questions in plain language This helps me move from skimming to understanding. Step 3: Test your understanding with ChatGPT Once I have the basics down, I go to ChatGPT to challenge myself through the Socratic approach of learning. If you’d like to try this, here’s a #prompt you can adapt: “You are my climate strategy tutor. Please use a Socratic approach: don’t give me direct answers upfront. Instead, ask me open-ended questions to test my understanding, probe why I think certain ideas matter, encourage me to explain concepts in my own words, and share small hypothetical cases for me to respond to. Help me notice gaps or inconsistencies in my reasoning, and only after several rounds of questioning, offer clarifications or feedback. Keep the tone supportive and focused on building my independent thinking.” You don’t have to know everything before you start. But having a method to learn and re-learn. It makes all the difference. I’m still figuring this out too 🙂 If you’ve found other ways to learn deeply in climate or sustainability, I’d love to hear. #ClimateCareers #LearningInPublic #Sustainability #ImpactWork

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).

Everything you need to know about getting a job in Climate 🌍 Distilled into 5 steps. 1️⃣ Find Your Niche "I want to work in climate" is too broad. Climate is massive. Narrow your search to an industry, function, or specific problem that needs solving. Ask: What am I good at? What excites me? Where can I add value fastest? Start broad, figure out what topics you naturally want to learn more about, and then focus there This will accelerate your learning and empower people to give you better recommendations along the way. 2️⃣ Build the Right Network (Two Types of People Matter) Type 1: Door Openers – People already in the roles, industries, or companies you want to join. They help with referrals, advice, and industry insights. Type 2: Fellow Climbers – Other career-switchers who push you, hold you accountable, and share opportunities. (Most people only focus on the first group - big mistake imo) Be proactive: DM people, join climate communities, attend events. 3️⃣ Prove You Belong You don’t need years of Climate experience, you need to show you can add value. Ways to demonstrate credibility: ✅ Document what you're learning and share it online (Linkedin, Substack, personal website) ✅ Create something - do consulting work, write a deep-dive blog post, volunteer with an org you care about ✅ Come prepared to networking / hiring conversations with an informed perspective on the industry Whatever you do, document it and share it so people know what you're up to. 4️⃣ Make It Easy to Hire You The best candidates make saying ‘yes’ easy. Have a clean LinkedIn presence (headline, summary & bio most importantly) that makes it easy for relevant recruiters to find you. Craft a strong elevator pitch that connects your past experience to Climate. Be extremely prompt with follow ups to all interviews and comms with their team. 5️⃣ Be Relentless Breaking into climate isn’t about luck—it’s about persistence. The people who break in fastest treat it like a job before they get the job. Stay consistent with outreach, networking, and learning—momentum compounds. Follow up. Then follow up again. Polite persistence wins. You do those 5 things and I can almost guarantee you'll be successful. -- Want more help? Drop me a follow (Cameron McDonald). I've helped dozens of people break into Climate and I regularly share what I think are the most important things you need to know.