Search Results: green careers recap

March 12, 2017

Sustainability Careers in Our Changing Political Landscape: A {Green Career} Webinar Recap

By Pamela Berns   Green careerists and sustainability students have been wondering just how the changes in our government policies will affect their career choices. While Dr. Eban Goodstein is the first to admit he doesn’t have a crystal ball, his longtime experience as a career advisor and current role as Director, Graduate Programs in Sustainability at Bard College do afford him insights that can help jobseekers gain some sense of direction. We asked him to share those insights, along with strategies for education and job searching in a webinar hosted by GreenHomeNYC on February 16, 2017. Here’s what he had to say.   “We are really at the end of an era, a forty-five year period of policy stability and bi-partisan consensus,” says Dr. Goodstein. “There is new leadership now, and we have to think about how to negotiate that.” With indisputable scientific data indicating that the planet has become a half a degree warmer in just the last three years alone, “you guys are signing up to figure out how we’re going to rewire the world…That remains our mission in spite of the politics of the day.” It sounds daunting, yet Dr. Goodstein balances the challenge with a dose of hope. “We’re still living in an extraordinary moment in the human project.” Sure, we are ” in a race,” he added, “but we haven’t lost yet.” (more…)

February 28, 2017

{Green Careers} February Recap: Resume Speed (up)Dating Workshop

by Radhika Sri Paravastu   For many job seekers, a resume is the one chance they have to capture a potential employer’s attention. To help job seekers land a career opportunity in the green industry, GreenhomeNYC recently organized the Resume Speed (up)Dating workshop at Steven Winter Associates. The event saw a mix of participants ranging from students to industry practitioners, all seeking a better career in the green industry. Each participant’s resume was reviewed by several sustainability professionals.   Most of the reviewers pointed out that every detail included in a resume should be well thought-out, intentional, and appropriate to the kind of job you are seeking. Here are ten takeaways from the event: (more…)

January 27, 2017

{Green Careers} January 2017 Recap: Resilience and Stormwater Management

by Samantha Yost   On January 10, GreenHomeNYC hosted three professionals in the field of resilience and stormwater management at the offices of the Community Preservation Corporation, which itself has done significant post-Sandy recovery work in some of the most vulnerable and heavily impacted communities. This Sustainable Career Tracks event attracted a diverse crowd eager to get career advice from our panel of experts.   Mark Ginsberg, Principal at Curtis + Ginsberg Architects, LLP Mark Ginsberg is a familiar face in the resilience community, having spoken on several previous panels about the work his firm has done with new construction and renovations on buildings in the flood plain. Mark is also co-author of Enterprise’s manual Ready to Respond, Strategies for Multifamily Building Resilience, which seeks to give information to owners of multifamily buildings on how to protect their properties and residents in case of an emergency.  He spoke about the Arverne East project that his firm has designed in the Rockaways, an area in the flood plain that has endured heavy damage during Superstorm Sandy. (more…)

November 13, 2016

{Green Careers} October 2016 Recap: Green Products Industry

by Keith Wong   October’s GreenHomeNYC Sustainable Career Tracks explored careers that focus on reducing the public health threats found in materials, goods and services. The speakers came from a variety of fields that are responsible for different phases of sustainable projects and products, but all share a common theme: they look to product and business life cycles to attain sustainability standards and specifications.   The presenters were Susan Kaplan, Director of Specifications and Sustainability at HLW, whose responsibilities involve her in the design, completion, and certification of sustainable architecture projects; Rachel Berman, who, as Sustainability Program Manager of MechoSystems, focuses on optimizing their products’ material content, and works with clients to ensure that they meet their goals for daylight harvesting; and Prerna Chatterjee, Sustainability Specialist at BASF, whose efforts engage integral parts of the supply chain in meeting sustainability goals.       The career trajectories of the speakers were as varied as their job responsibilities, and each found herself in her current position after a series of twists and turns on the road to becoming a passionate sustainability expert. (more…)

September 24, 2016

{Green Careers} September 2016 Recap: Elevator Pitch Workshop

By Matt Gerson and Katie Schwamb   An elevator pitch is defined as “a succinct personal summary used to capture the interest of a potential employer.” The name comes from the idea that this speech is delivered within the brief timeframe of a typical elevator ride; it raises one of the most important questions you need to ask yourself: What do I say in those 30 seconds to make the biggest impact?     To help answer this question, the GreenHomeNYC Green Careers group invited two stellar moderators to the September 13th Green Careers – Elevator Pitch Workshop, hosted at the Grohe Live! Center Showroom: Gina Piesco, Manager of Human Resources at Kenneth Cole Productions, and Andy Padian, President at PadianNYC Consulting.   Gina and Andy moderated, as attendees presented their elevator pitches to the group. After each pitch, the presenter received constructive criticism identifying areas of strength and weakness, so the pitch could be refined and improved. This group analysis made for a dynamic and mutual learning experience for everyone who attended.   During the workshop, the group was able to identify attributes of a successful elevator pitch…   (more…)

August 24, 2016

{Green Careers} August 2016 Recap: Sustainable Career Tracks – Corporate Social Responsibility

By Dean Yeh   In recent years, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become a rising phenomenon in companies, which have begun to integrate sustainability into previously established business models.  Broadly defined as a business initiative that monitors a company’s effects on environmental and social wellbeing, CSR has proven to be a beneficial practice in business operations, as companies have gained increasing comfort with and commitment to incurring short-term costs in exchange for longer-term social, environmental, and, critically, financial advantage.   In the early weeks of August, a diverse crowd convened at the Grohe Center Showroom in New York City’s Flatiron District in order to attend the GreenHomeNYC Sustainable Career Tracks event on Corporate Social Responsibility.  This month, GreenHomeNYC invited a panel of four guest speakers whose careers are anchored in sustainability and who hold roles that stretch across an array of industries and professions: Heather Zanoni, Associate Advisor in Sustainability Services at KPMG; Amy Springsteel, Assistant Vice President of Corporate Responsibility at Voya Financial, Inc.; Mike Schwartz, CSR Analyst at EcoVadis; and Harry Etra, Director at CodeGreen Solutions. (more…)

July 29, 2016

{Green Careers} July 2016 Recap: Interview Skills- Discussion/Workshop

By Thomas Storck     On July 12, a diverse group of experts joined GreenHomeNYC Careerists to offer advice to job seekers in both the private and public sectors. While the focus was on the job interview, the speakers also addressed pre- and post-interview strategies to help applicants strengthen their prospects at all stages of the job application process.  

The speakers who offered their insights were:

Yianice Hernandez, Director of Active Living at NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene Aquila Leon-Soon, Chief Executive Officer & Social Entrepreneur at Advance Talent Solutions Liliya Shames, Deputy Director of Optimization at NYC Department of Education Andy Padian, Founder and President of PadianNYC Consulting Matt Gerson,  GreenHomeNYC Volunteer     Start by Managing Your Internet Image  Your interviewer is judging you well before you’ve had the chance to meet, so before beginning your application, take stock of your activity on social media. If they consider hiring you, a potential employer will likely research you online, which can both help or hurt you during the application process. Remove anything from your personal sites that you wouldn’t want an employer to see (or update your privacy settings accordingly). Make sure your resume matches your LinkedIn profile. Also, if your LinkedIn page shows that you are connected to people in the industry, liking articles and writing about relevant issues, it shows that you are doing your due diligence online as a professional.  Once you actually get a correspondence going with the interviewer or the organization you’re applying to, be very professional in all your emails. (more…)

June 1, 2016

{Green Careers} May 2016 Recap– Sustainable Career Tracks: Education/Academics

By Thomas Storck     From teachers to program managers on various scales, the following green professionals were brought together by the GreenHomeNYC Green Careers group on May 10th to share their personal histories, day-to- day challenges and advice about that indefinable and ever-changing area between sustainability and academia. Their stories, as summarized below, reveal that their differences are as evident as their similarities.   This month’s recap features insight from Liliya Shames (NYC Department of Education’s Deputy Director of Operations), Christopher Sedita (Green Buildings Teacher and CTE Department Lead at The Urban Assembly School for Green Careers), Dianne Anderson (NYU’s Sustainable Resources Manager) and Antuan Cannon (CEO and Co-Founder at Envirolution One) about counting light bulbs, knowing your strengths, bureaucratic nonsense and how to overcome it, and the true source of renewable energy. (more…)

April 29, 2016

{Green Careers} April 2016 Recap: Diversity in Green—A Panel Discussion with Green Professionals and Diversity Experts

By Pamela Berns  

On April 12, GreenHomeNYC Green Careers brought together a diverse group of panelists to discuss just that—diversity in the green workplace. Each speaker brought to the table a unique set of experiences and affinities, and shared a variety of perspectives on what’s working and what still needs change in workplace inclusion, how to advocate for more equitable policies, and how to know whether an organization’s culture aligns with your values around diversity.

  According to diversity consultant Sandra Bushby of Diversity & Inclusion Solutions at ExecuInsight LLC, there are some good business reasons for organizations to commit to diversity and inclusion. In an increasingly globalized workplace, it’s important to understand cultural norms, and to mirror the diverse makeup of the supply chain. Furthermore, by bringing together people from multiple backgrounds, companies stand to be more innovative. In fact, according to Bushby, DiversityInc magazine reported that the top 50 companies with a strong diversity focus” perform 22 per cent higher” than those without it. (more…)

March 27, 2016

{Green Careers} March 2016 Recap: “Speed Up-Dating Resume Workshop” March 8, 2016

By Brigitta Berze   On March 8th, 2016, the GreenHomeNYC Green Careers group once again held its popular Speed Up-Dating Your Resume workshop. Hosted at Steven Winter Associates, Inc., the workshop got its name from the well-known dating technique, speed dating, where individuals meet briefly in timed sessions before moving on to the next person. The workshop helped transitioning professionals understand what hiring personnel are looking for, and how to present themselves properly in a resume.   (more…)