While students will still have to determine the exact career they would like to pursue, and maybe pick out what they will wear on interview day, at the end of the workshop they should hopefully have the rest covered. Attendees will assess their hard and soft skills, discover what work they enjoy, determine the assets they need to build, learn how to build a professional portfolio and learn how to create their own brand to set them apart. We hope to have students walk out of the presentation confident that they can handle the next steps to land their first job out of college. No matter their major, job experience, and extracurriculars, students will leave with a better appreciation of their strengths and understand there are multiple paths to be followed on the way to their dream green job. Attendees will learn about themselves through interactive activities, including mind mapping and writing their own compelling and engaging story. Attendees are encouraged to assess and reflect on their own personal experiences and passions to uncover what makes them unique and valuable. They will then be able to build their own personal portfolios and establish an undeniable online and physical presence. We even offer a brief introduction to the general sustainability field, as well as suggest on-campus tools and search engines to find green jobs.

1. Preparing for the Real
World: Kickstarting
Your Sustainability
Career Pathway
Mieko A. Ozeki
University of Vermont
ELP Senior Fellow
Allison Potteiger
Northwestern University
ELP National Fellow
AASHE 2014 Student Summit

2. Please DOwnload
bit.ly/buildprofportfolio

3. @AASHEConference
#greencareer

4. Warning: Information Overload

5. Your Facilitators
Mieko A. Ozeki
Active Professional
since 1997
Education
Environment

6. Your Facilitators
Allison
Potteiger
Active Professional
since 2011

7. Workshop Overview
Part I: Context for
Building Your
Pathway
● Evolution of
Movements &
Roles
● Profiling the
Sustainability
Professional
● Building on
Strengths,
Skills, &
Experience
Part II: Communicating
You
● Developing a Narrative
● First Impressions
Matter: Practicing your
pitch
● Curating a Body of Work
● Building and Managing a
Personal/Professional
Brand
Part III: Getting the
Most Bang for Your
Buck
● Taking Advantage of
Resources at Your
School
● Externships,
Internships, and Jobs, &
networking
● Resources

8. Source: Fast Company
Part I: Context for Building Your Pathway

9. Evolution of Movements & Roles
Conservationist Environmentalism

10. Evolution of Movements & Roles
Sustainability Resilience & Adaptation

11. Employment Perspective:
Your Grandparents Generation
According the Bureau of Labor
Statistics:
The average person born in the latter
years of the Baby Boom (1957-1964)
held 11.3 jobs from age 18 to age 46.
More than half of these jobs were
held from ages 18 to 24.
Source: National Longitudinal Survey
of Youth 1979, BLS
Baby Boomers in their twenties (circa 1960s)

12. Employment Perspective:
Your Generation
❖ According to the BLS, the average
worker today stays at their job for 4.4
years.
❖ 91% of Millennials expected to stay at
their jobs for less than 3 years.*
❖ This means you could hold 15-20
jobs over the course of your working
lives.
*Source: Future Workplace “Multiple
Generations @ Work”
Source: Getty Images

13. Take action in Your Pathway

14. What the Professionals did...
Agriculture Ecology
Bachelors
Political
Science
Psychology
Language
Journalism/
Communication
Graphic
Design
Hard Theater
Sciences
Religious
Studies
History
Horticulture
Accounting
Mathematics
Entomology

15. Business Urban
Masters
Studies/
Planning
E Science
E Policy
English
Biology
Sustainable
Development
Public
Policy
Entomology
Organizational
Leadership
Resource
Management/
Admin
Corporate
Communication
What the Professionals did...

16. Natural
Resources
PhD
Environmental
Studies
Environmental
Engineering
Conservation
Biology
Cognitive
Anthropology
What the Professionals did...

17. Past
Professions
Teacher/
Professor
Engineer
Government/
Municipalities
Private
Sector/small
businesses
NGO’s/
Not-for-
Profits
What the Professionals did...

18. Liberal Arts &
Science
Recommended
Backgrounds
Humanities
Hard Sciences
E Studies/
Conservation
Climate
Change
Political
Science
Business/
Management
Communication Planning
Economics
Engineering
What the Professionals want...

19. What professional assets/strengths do you bring to
The Table?
Hard Skills:
● Technical skills
● Left Brain- Logical
center
● Hard skills are easy
to observe, quantify,
and measure
● Example: operating
machinery,
computer
programming,
accounting
Soft Skills:
● "People skills"
● Right Brain-
Emotional
Intelligence
● Soft skills are hard to
observe, qualify,
measure
● Example: listening,
resolving conflicts,
networking

20. your personality & skills...
Self-directed/motivated
Communicative
Confident
Creative Flexible
Professional
Responsible
Independent
Time management
Team player
Diplomatic
Persistent without pestering
Patient
Determined
Resourceful
Analytical
Entrepreneurial
Passionate
Out-going
Sense of humor
Collaborative
Innovative Analytical
Critical
Problem-solver
Positive Focused

21. Your speciality...
Communication Planning Management Measuring Technical Mentality
Outreach
Marketing
Public
Speaking
Writing
Relationship
Building
Listening
Research
Organization
Implementation
Advising
Diverse
Audiences
Time
Analyzing
&
Collecting
Data
Website
Development
Graphic
Design
Social Media
Process
Project
Critical
Systems
Problem
Solving

22. Talk the Talk... Economic models
Business models
Policy and law
Conflict resolution
Local
Biology
Compost
Organic/seasonal
Waste management
Sustainability
theory
Environmental
Sociology
Audits
Performance
tracking
Data management
Systems thinking ROI
Life-cycle analysis
Cost-benefit
analysis
Triple bottom line
RECs
Energy efficiency
Renewable energy
LEED/green
building
GHG
Waste management
Climate change
Carbon offsets
Water systems
Landscaping
Agriculture
Transportation

23. Part II:
Communicating You

24. Preparing Content within Context
Personal Brand
Narrative
Quality of Life
Portfolio
Body of Work
Managing
Building &
Curating

25. What comes to Mind when you
think of a “brand”?

26. What comes to mind when you hear
“personal brand”?

27. Personal Brand is a perception or emotion maintained by somebody other than
you, that describes your outstanding qualities and influences that person's
relationship with you.
- David McNally & Karl D. Speak , Authors of Be Your Own Brand: Achieve More
of What You Want by Being More of Who You Are,
2nd edition (2011)
What is A Personal Brand, Anyhow?

28. Personal Brand = Reputation =
How People Perceive You

29. “You have to
generate your
character offline.”
Reggie Watts
Comedian

30. {
Personal branding is
like a Cliff Notes™ of
You.
It’s not the whole
story, but a synopsis.
What people take a
quick glance at.
A Different Perspective

31. {Developing, collecting,
and curating your story
(the Content) is just as
important as displaying
your Brand.
Display
Your Story (the Content)
What is your personal & professional
narrative?
90% Your Story & 10% Display

32. Developing A Narrative for Your Body of Work

33. Forming a Personal/Professional
How do you perceive
yourself? What are your
strengths? What
experiences shaped your
skills, values, knowledge?
How do others perceive
you?
Narrative
What would you like your
quality of life to be? What
are you passionate about?
What will bring
happiness to your life?
Work-Life Balance
Awareness of the
Authentic You:
Identifying
Elements of You
Quality of Life
What is your ideal work
environment? Who would
you like to work with?
How important is
keeping life & work life
in balance?

34. Narrative Activity
● Jot down some bullet
points of your personal
story in the present.
● Imagine your professional
story post-college (2-5
years after graduating) and
jot down a couple bullet
points.

35. First Impressions Matter:
Knowing Your Narrative Helps

36. Your Body of Work:
Professional Portfolio
❖ Personal development & self-reflection
❖ Career exploration
❖ Pitch yourself while networking
❖ A conversation piece
❖ Develop & curate your professional
story
❖ Collect content for your digital brand

37. Content to Share in Your Portfolio
❖ Resume*
❖ Reference list*
❖ Letters of references*
❖ Accomplishments
❖ Brochures
❖ Conferences, workshops,
seminars attended
❖ Public speaking/presentations or
performances
❖ Featured articles
❖ Honors, awards,
❖ Licenses or certificates for
specific trainings
❖ Professional affiliations
❖ Writing samples
❖ Pictures of you in the field
❖ Examples of projects and reports
❖ Videos

38. Your Body of Work Inventory
● What direction do you project yourself to be in the near
future and how is this reflected in your body of work?
● What you have learned up to this point- in college, at an
internship, through your side projects, and activities?
● What kind of life experiences and activities would you
like to try? How will these activities enhance your body
of work and reflect what you desire for your future
professional narrative?

39. Platforms
(Download at bit.ly/portbrand)
www.linkedin.com www.seelio.com

40. Platforms
(Download at bit.ly/portbrand)
www.prezi.com www.slideshare.com

41. Platforms
(Download at bit.ly/portbrand)
www.issuu.com
Personal Website

42. Platforms
(Download at bit.ly/portbrand)
www.vimeo.com www.youtube.com

43. The By-Products of Your Narrative:
Personal Branding in the Digital World

45. Who really checks your Profiles
Employers will use:
48% search engines to research candidates
44% Facebook to research candidates
27% Twitter to monitor a candidate’s activity
23% Yelp, Glassdoor, or other rating sites to review
candidate’s posts or comments.
Source: 2013 CareerBuilder Study at goo.gl/r6StlX

46. Social Media Inventory
Create a table of the profiles/accounts you have on social
media and social networking sites. Thinking of your current
use of these platforms, how would you change your use to
reflect your narrative, your body of work, and your personal
brand. Example:
Social
Network/Social
Media
Handle, pages,
and/or web address
How do you use this
platform? Who is
your audience?
What would you
change?
i.e. Twitter jsmith Share my thoughts on
movies with friends and
public
Share links and images
of projects I am
involved in, public
sharing with a focus on
people in the creative
arts industry.

47. What should I count in my social
media inventory?
❖ Any social media service or
website where your name,
information, and/or image can
be publicly viewed.
❖ Includes organizations and/or
companies you participate in (i.e.
staff profiles, Memberships)
❖ Includes publications, pictures,
presentations that may be posted
on other websites

48. You are Your Content
Tweeting your opinions, values, beliefs
Creative & thoughtful projects can attract
attention from a wider audience.

49. When a poorly worded Tweet leads to
losing your job

50. Take Ownership of Your Reputation
Source: Trend Micro, August 2013

51. A SmartPhone puts your privacy in the public
1.75 billion
smartphone
users in the
world in
2014.
1 in 5 people in
the world will
have a
smartphone.

52. “I have a website because I
need a way to put myself
forward in my own way
rather than in a way the
media portrays me.”
-Alex Honnold,
American climber and free soloist

53. Brand Management

55. Have you Googled Yourself?
“Personal branding is about managing your name — even if you don't own a
business — in a world of misinformation, disinformation, and semi-permanent
Google records. Going on a date? Chances are that your “blind” date has Googled
your name. Going to a job interview? Ditto.”
- Tim Ferriss, Author of the 4-Hour Work Week (2009)

56. Example of Ideal Search Engine 1st Page
Results When You’re Googled
A positive bio link & profile
Personal/professional website
LinkedIn
Non-offensive pictures
Profile link to services,
featuring your portfolio
content

57. Reputation Management Services
www.reppler.com

58. www.BrandYourself.com

59. Part III: GETTING THE MOST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK

60. Take Advantage of Resources @ Your School
● Career Services
○ Resume writing, etc.
○ Mock interviews
○ Myers Briggs, Strengths Tests
● Work study positions
● Study abroad
● In the classroom
○ Research
○ Presentations
○ Research papers
● Community
○ Internships
○ Externships
○ Volunteer Work
Student
Affairs
Get
Involved
Office of the
President
Recycling
Office of
Sustainability
Environmental
Res
Student
Groups
Services/Life
Facilities
Management

61. What’s the difference: internships

62. What’s the difference: Externships

63. What’s the difference: volunteer

64. What’s the difference: shadowing

65. Network…Network...Network

66. Network ... network ... network

67. Where can I find a Green Job Post?
UVM Green Jobs Resource page:
www.uvm.edu/sustain/green-jobs-resource
Sustainability Career Resources List by
HEASC: http://goo.gl/KnJhSV

68. Resources
● Susan Chritton, Personal Branding
for Dummies
● Erik Deckers & Kyle Lacy, Branding
Yourself (2013)
● David McNally & Karl Speaks, Be
Your Own Brand (2011)
● Dan Schwabel, Me 2.0: Build a
Powerful Brand to achieve
career success (2009) and
Promote Yourself: The New
Rules for Career Success (2013)

69. Body of Work: Finding the Thread That
Ties Your Story Together by Pamela Slim
www.internqueen.com

70. Want a career workshop on your campus or coaching
session?
Please grab a business card, tweet, and
post about this session. Check out
Radiance Studios:
info@radiancestudiosllc.com
www.radiancestudiosllc.com
Share your comments about this session on:
facebook.com/radiancestudiosllc
@RadianceStudio

71. Write a postcard to your future
self:
1. A greeting to yourself and an
encouragement. (i.e. “Hi me…”)
2. Identify action steps/goals:
What is something you want to do
when you get back to campus
within the next 2 weeks? Within
in the next 2 months? By June
1, 2015?
3. Identify a learning opp:
What do you want to learn more
about or try when you return to
campus?
4. Write your home address and
drop off the card with us.
Thank you!