Some green MBA programs introduced in recent years at many prestigious management institutes and equally popular online cover these titles:
- Sustainability MBA
- Organizational and Environmental Sustainability MBA
- MBA in Sustainable Management
- MBA in Sustainable Futures
- Business Strategies for Environmental Sustainability
- MBA in Socially Responsible Business
- Global Green MBA
- Green Business Management
- Management of Environmental Pollutants and Climate Change, Energy and Development
- MBA Environmental Science and Policy
- MBA of Environmental Management
The variety and choices are growing in this area and so is the confusion as to which course would be right for me.
Trends in “GREEN” Hiring
To find out the current trend in green hiring is to find out which of these above mentioned courses are resulting in which areas of cleantech or green jobs? And how many of these are actually resulting in good placements and salaries?
On some research through the job boards I found that there were NO openings in the IT industry and other tech sector which prefer a specific “GREEN MBA” degree for their current open management positions.
Why is it so? Is it because that would limit their reach to more experienced and other deserving professionals or perhaps since the GREEN MBA programs are still newly introduced and they would prefer more experience for the advertised “green sustainable” jobs? Or perhaps both of these reasons.
The reason why most opt for green MBA would be perhaps for a passion for sustainability and environment or following the “predicted” flow of the rise of the “green career” and equipping yourself with a green degree might up your chances in rising to higher ranks and salaries faster. Well, this might not be happening right now so it is a good idea to check on the real reason why you would opt for a Green MBA as compared to a regular MBA degree.
The trend seen currently is many of the Green MBA graduates are either venturing into entrepreneurship or have taken on these courses to further their small or large businesses toward sustainability.
A good statistics to know would be to see how many of these recent grads from the Green MBA programs are getting hired in firms and how many are launching their own businesses either due to lack of suitable positions out there or because of their initial passion to be an entrepreneur?
Why an Organization should Hire someone with a “Green” Background for a Management Position
Now for the organizations which value sustainability and environmentally responsible development it would be a good idea to give preference to those candidates who have shown interest and invested their time and money in either getting a green MBA or other competitive degrees with emphasis on sustainability. Why? Because there is value and benefit in going green and the faster companies implement it in their mainstream the better future they can offer to their customers and to the environment in general. This experience comes to the orgs well prepared if they are ready to hire candidates with educational background in sustainability and social innovation with a green impact.
Tips for Recent Green MBAs
- Though you may have a Green MBA don’t feel restricted to apply to other MBA required positions because you might bring in that little extra of knowledge on sustainability and environmental awareness which most certainly adds more value to any organization. And now more than ever companies are enthusiastically looking to add social responsibility and develop sustainable brands – and that brings more value to what you have achieved through the program.
- Prepare a report or analysis to show how through your green MBA training you can add more value to the company.
- As you read above in this post, maybe right now there are not specific jobs which prefer only green MBAs, but the trend is here to stay, with time you’ll see lot many organizations showing interest and increasing hiring in this field and that makes you the front runner or the leader to spear head the corporate social and environmental responsibility movement.
- You can create your own job and own job title now. Be creative the job boards are not the place to go hunting for your next job title, networking and knowing the company culture is. You’re the ideal candidate to market yourself creatively and present a compelling cause that why you would be an ideal candidate for the company.
Are you a recent GREEN MBA grad? How are you seeing the current hiring trends and what experience can you share with us?