The desire to make the career transition from IT to cleantech is an extremely popular one. The reasons are fairly obvious. After 30 years of tremendous innovation and high growth, there appears to be less opportunity than there once was. Whereas cleantech seems to be a area open to new out-of-the box thinking and has a landscape of great opportunity. This is the time when you can really make your mark and IT professionals seeking to make a green career transition have an advantage over many others seeking to do the same.
Network engineering and systems operations, user front-end development, software development, and embedded device development are just a few areas where IT professionals will find themselves in great demand. There are skills transferability opportunities on almost every level.
Jennifer Massie, a recruiter with Redlich & Associates and moderator of the LinkedIn Group Clean / Green Opportunity recently wrote a post on how technical professionals can transition to a cleantech career. She emphasizes that while skills are usually transferable, the discipline is not necessarily transferable. She recommends thoroughly researching the industry that you would like to move into to attain an understanding of the industry to which you’d like to make the transition and having a good understanding are you core competencies and how to make them relevant to these evolving industries.
Three additional career change strategies I think IT professionals should also consider are:
1. Learn the business you are trying to transition into by seeking a job working within a the IT department of a cleantech company.
2. Green your resume with certification or an advanced degree in the area that you are targeting.
3. Network, network, network!
By the way, Earth2tech has a great list of 25 Who Ditched Infotech for Cleantech. Earth2 Tech has profiles of each in which their path to cleantech is described.
If you have made the move from IT to Cleantech, please share with us how you did it in the comments section.
UNCOVERING YOUR GREEN NICHE – One of the most important skills you can have as a green career seeker is being able to articulate your green career niche. This free ebook by Carol McClelland PhD shares the secrets of finding your green niche.
THE COMPLETE GREEN JOB GUIDE 2009: SECRETS FOR GETTING THE JOB YOUR WANT – Discover How To Unlock The Booming Green Economy For Your Job Search And Future Financial Security with the 10 Breakthrough Steps You Need To Know To Find And Land A Green Job Quickly.
