By guest blogger Nell Fry, Sustainability Coordinator, Georgia Tech Dining Services, Sodexo
Being young in the job market today has its challenges, to say the least. Because of the 9% unemployment rate, most jobs that are advertised want 3, 5, even 10 years experience because, well, that level of experience is available. Those of us who have graduated in the past few years really have not had the chance to accrue that amount of time in any positions, even if we held internships while in college. During my time at Georgia Tech I had a job, I was highly involved on campus, and I went to networking events regularly, but I have found the job market to be tough. My solution: networking and contract work.
Because I have not been able to reach three to five years of experience in my current job (simply because I have not lived that long), I have had to find other avenues in which to gain experience. Working in a specialized field, like I do in Sustainability, entry level job opportunities can be limited. I am lucky that since graduation I have held a full time job with Sodexo in the field I want to have a career in. To gain additional, valuable experience during this time, I have also contracted with two organizations. I have found that events and small businesses often want to increase the sustainability of their operation but there is just not the need to bring someone on full time. This is an opportunity for someone like me, who has some experience in operational sustainability, to come in, make a difference, gain some skills, and step out.
The most recent opportunity available was with Taste of Atlanta. This festival has about 40,000 attendees each year who look forward to sampling tastes from their favorite restaurants from all around Atlanta. As you can imagine, all those tasting, (plates, bowls, cups, napkins, forks, bottles) from 40,000 people can create quite a bit of trash. Let’s be honest, it creates tons of trash. Taste of Atlanta brought me on to help manage their waste more sustainably. I had the opportunity to organize their volunteers, work a little with their hauler and even organize a Farmers Market on the side. This contracting gig gave me experience organizing waste for a large event, contacts, and a little extra cash. Not too shabby.
In this kind of economy we have to understand that a little extra work is going to be necessary if we want to get to that dream job. You may not have the experience for the position you are looking at yet, but being proactive and willing to do that little extra will get you a long way (and may help you pay your rent in the meantime). Broadening your network is invaluable for finding these opportunities. Eventually a good network, a few contracts and a willing spirit might get you the job that may be just beyond your reach right now.
UPDATE 12/7/2011 - Nel has accepted an Energy Analyst position with Sodexo. She will begin her new role in January 2012.
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