Episode description:

Jobs.

They are on the top of everyone's minds, and sustainability jobs even more so. Millennials are even willing to take a fairly substantial pay cut in order to move in a job with more sustainability responsibilities.

My name is Jimmy Jia. In this bonus episode of the Levers for Change Podcast, we compile the advice and suggestions given by our Season 1 experts on how to best enter the sustainability workforce as well as what expertise the sector needs.

To hear the full interviews, please go to www.leversforchangepodcast.com. Season 2 will be launching this Fall of 2020 and we will announce more details soon.

Let us start with Jackie Drumheller of Alaskan Airlines, who told us what to do; and Jameson Morrell of Jacobs Engineering who told us what not to do.

Jackie Drumheller, Sustainability Director, Alaskan Airlines

· I get a lot of intern application. You can be looking at 300 applications and I would throw out every single one where the person didn’t reach out to me independently during the resume process. Because there’s no point. You have to be a self-starter, you have to have initiative and you have to have drive.

· If you’re just sending in an application to our giant HR-in-the-cloud, you’re not demonstrating any sort of initiative. Show me that you’ve started a composting collection in your school or you’ve persuaded management in your job to get rid of water bottles. Because then you know what it really takes to implement sustainability initiatives in the workplace. Then you really understand what it took to relay the business case or how to influence people or how the organization works. And then you have the passion and persistence to get it done.

JJ: Thanks Jackie. So Jameson, what shouldn't we do?

Jameson Morrell, Sustainability Intelligence, Jacobs Engineering

· The biggest mistake I see? You go into LinkedIn or a job description on a job board and you google search for “sustainability”. And you see the name “Sustainability Manger” or “Sustainability Director” or something like that. It’s like the front door of a crowded restaurant.

· There’s a lot of people who are focused on that word. You can easily walk around the back and become a cook for a year, and move right into that sustainability job. And so that’s my advice. Study something that you love and augment it.

JJ: It’s good to know that there are many impactful jobs, even if they don't have sustainability in the job title. So then what type of job titles should you be looking for? Sabrina Watkins of ConocoPhillips tells us where to look.

Sabrina Watkins, former Global Head of Sustainability, ConocoPhillips

· Everywhere! It’s a silly answer but it’s actually quite true. I have had so many mentoring sessions with professions who want to do more in sustainability but they are in information technology, or they want to do more in sustainability but they are a mechanical engineer. Honestly, all of those skillsets are needed to move the company forward in sustainability.

· We need to have interest and aptitude. It takes an engineer to sort out a new piece of equipment that could reduce emissions and to understand what sort of emissions monitoring equipment is best suited for our operations.

· It needs people who are good at social engagement to work with communities to really understand what they’re expectations are of the company and not someone who isn’t skilled at that sort of conversation and just clams up.

· I think there’ slots of way to contribute to sustainability. If you want to be in a sustainability group, then it requires both academic work in sustainability as well as depth of expertise in a particular industry.

JJ: Brewster Earle of comfort systems debunks the notion that sustainability jobs require a college education, saying we need more technicians.

Brewster Earle, former EVP Energy Systems, Comfort System USA

· It’s purely technicians. The technical tradespeople. The workforce is aging. It is quite interesting and shocking. The notion that college is the preferred path, I can’t debunk that enough. It’s simply not true. Some people would be great at trades and can make a good living. That’s the big challenge in the industry at the whole. We need more tradespeople that can look at a plot of land and make something out of nothing. make some grow out of nothing.

JJ: Steve Klein couldn't agree more. He used to be the CEO of Snohomish PUD, a major utility, and he had to hire many tradespeople.

Steve Klein, former CEO, Snohomish PUD

· We put so much emphasis on college and getting advanced degrees and here we are dying to find line electricians and meter technicians that, with overtime, make over $120,000 a year and we can’t find people to fill those jobs. Certainly, it’s a very fulfilling career. And based on today, it’s not swinging a hammer. It’s some physical work, but it’s still a lot of mental work because everyone carries a laptop nowadays. All of these systems are complex so even if you’re tweaking it with a screwdriver, you got to understand the technology.

· Then you go beyond that, utilities get involved with everything. They have accountants. They have biologists, particularly here in the Northwest where with hydro projects, we are managing fish protection. In terms of the electrical energy side, there are many different sides of it. When I was in college, you had to specialize in power engineering. Now there’s many different areas to look at.

JJ: What if you're looking for a promotion rather than looking for a new job? As Rich Sonstelie, retired CEO of Puget Sound Energy says, take an interest in how the business works beyond your day-to-day duties.

Rich Sonstelie, Retired CEO, Puget Sound Energy

· For those like me who came in like I did with an MBA, prove that you’re really interested in the utility business. This concept of MBAs coming into companies and thinking that they’re prepared to go into top management immediately, boy, what a way to alienate everybody around you.

· Again, show that you’re interested in the big picture. Quiz your leaders about why we’re doing this. Tell me who else is involved.

· I think the older business people delight in young people who ask questions. There’s a lot to learn from the mid-career, late career folks. It’s very flattering really.

· I had people in the latter part of my career, who came and ask for a meeting and my assistant always knew that my door was always open. Some great people came to ask some really great questions. And I got to know them a little as well. And I don’t think it hurt either of us.

JJ: Learn the business process, yes. Also, learn the political process, as Karen Wayland who spent a career in Congress and the Department of Energy, reminds us.

Karen Wayland, kW Strategies

· I think everybody should have a stint in Washington. I look on Facebook and Twitter and I listen to the conversations I have when visiting friends and family outside Washington and they really, truly do not understand the process. I think it’s useful to have a better understanding of the process so that you’re more forgiving of the process and not so cynical about it or misinformed about it.

· For instance, the framers of the constitution, envisioned things moving fast in the House and things moving slow in the Senate and of the thousands of bills that are produced every year by the 535 members, very few of them ever become law, by design.

JJ: Where you find a job might be surprising. The most unexpected companies might be hiring people with expertise in climate. Shilpa Patel of ClimateWorks elaborates:

Shilpa Patel, ClimateWorks

· There’s so many entry points now. I think the financial sector as a whole recognizes that this is a critical thing we have to deal with. You can do it in banks, certainly the investment banks, the private equity or funds that are focused on environment and climate.

· You can do it through philanthropy, a think tank, like WRI, you can certainly do it through a multi-lateral development bank. All of them have climate as a priority.

· The corporate world is very much looking into this. And very frankly, even the oil and gas majors are looking at climate and what it will do to their business. I think you can influence and work on climate finance in so many different was now.

JJ: Lastly, here are some skills to succeed.

Jameson Morrell

· Understand system thinking. Understand what’s new.

· Get your foot in the door of an organization you want to work for. And when your foot’s in the door, find those people because the teams are in there and they’re cross-functional teams and they’re moving somewhere.

· And then from there, you can move all over the place.

JJ: To summarize, it's not about looking for a sustainability job title. It's about turning your job into a sustainability job. I have heard of CFOs going to Green Team meetings to find people to promote because those who attended were working towards the company succeeding, not just their own careers. Those people cared about how the business worked, improving its functions and building cross-functional teams. In essence, they were learning how to lead.

Thanks again for listening to this compilation episode. Again, my name is Jimmy Jia. I hope the advice given by the experts will help you in your journey as you search for your Levers for Change.

Visit our website at www.leversforchangepodcast.com for additional podcasts, books, courses, and other resources.

Interview by Jimmy Jia (www.jimmyjia.com)

Music by Sean Hart (www.seanhart.com)

Website: www.leversforchangepodcast.com