5 first steps for people who want to work in Climate Tech

I get approached by many people who wish to explore their role in fighting climate change. More specifically, many people are reaching out to understand how they could find job that would fit them in climate tech companies.?

In 2022 and 2023 due to the economic downturn, the big technology companies are conducting mass layoffs globally. Google laid off 12,000 employees and continues to roll out its layoff plan globally. Meta let go of 11,000 employees, and Microsoft and Amazon removed more than 10,000 employees each. The list goes on and on with companies such as Uber and Lyft who joined the trend.?

That might have been one of the shakiest moments of the tech industry recently, but also it is a great opportunity to help direct great and experienced talent to solve big problems such as climate change.?

In addition, “conscious quitting” is on the rise. People and especially Gen-Z are looking a purposeful career, a job that will help progress society and make our planet better. According to a recent Linkedin research, half or UK employees will look for another company to work with if their set of values does not align with the company and CEO values.?

From UX directors to legal counsels there are approximately 200,000 people looking for a job now and many want to bridge the gap in the climate industry, while many are looking to build new businesses (I’ll leave this to a separate post).

With the new IRA and European green deal, there is a great demand for green skills that will build new climate innovation and products. I hear both from corporate CEOs and Scaelups CEOs that talent is one of their main gaps in deployment and acceleration of climate solution.?

So the supply of talent is there, and the demand of talent is there. So what is the challenge?

Climate Tech is a very broad and also new area for many. There have been startups and big companies in energy, food, agriculture for many years, however it’s just in the last 4-5 years that this topic became trendy and moved to some of the hottest topics Venture Capitalists invest in and startups are getting founded in. Because it’s broad and new, Cilmate Tech job explorers either don’t know where to start their search or don’t know how to focus and find their fit.??

A framework to find your way in the climate tech job search?

I decided to build a simple 5 step framework for Climate Tech Job Explorers. This will not guarantee you a job in climate, however it will help you focus and get started. More than any, it will help you grow and develop your knowledge and network in the space.?

Here are the 5 steps of the Framework:?

1. Define which area of climate tech you wish to focus on
2. Define which side of the table you wish to be in
3. Build basic knowledge, skills and networks in your area of your choice
4. Create your Long list of opportunities.?
5. Apply.?

I intentionally designed it as an iterative mechanism. Many people like to have linear processes that will bring them to a quick solution from point A to point Z? – I don’t believe in that. I’m a big believer in Iterating your way for personal growth. As you read more, join conversations with other climate tech leaders, you we learn how to define your areas of focus and the side you want to be on that table. Constantly, shifting between the 5 steps will help you get faster and focused in your current and future searched.?

What are the 5 steps of the framework?

1. Define which area of climate tech to focus on

Many people are confused about the definition of climate tech and what areas and industries it really includes. It is very common also in the Venture Capital world that I come from that when a fund says it invests in climate, it invests in a broad range of areas such as food, agriculture, energy and even healthcare sometimes.?

Specifically for your climate job search, pick 1-2 verticals that you are passionate about and explore them first. This does not mean that your final destination will be in those areas, but this will help you understand if they are the right fit for you or if you need to pivot to another vertical.?

To help you do that, you can use the intelligence of the areas where most venture capital investments are going to. From Mobility to Carbon Markets and Ag and Food tech you can see below a chart by Holon IQ, that will help you navigate it.?

Looking at investment trends will help you estimate also where hiring will

be accelerate in the next 12-18 months.?

2. Define which side of the table you wish to be in?

In venture capital, we talk about the two sides of the table – the founder side and the investor side in any deal. However, in climate tech and climate change industry in general I believe we have 4 sides of the table:?

• Startups
• Investors (venture capitalists, private equity funds, Banks etc.)?
• Corporates
• Policy and Government?

Each side has an important role to play, however is very different in how it operates, speed, and governance and decision making. The most important thing is that I believe that going forward all 4 sides will interact and engage more frequently.?

In a startup you will build and scale new innovation with unusual speed, Corporate will innovate as well but will also help to deploy large operations and transition existing infrastructure into a new sustainable and decarbonize system. Investors will try to find and build mechanisms to help both corporates and startups to accelerate and scale. Both for early stage and for scaleups and even public companies, investments is needed with added value of the investors. Finally, policy will enable all other players to deploy faster, and put the money in use effectively. Policy makers are a key aspect that requires quite a bit of innovation and hustle mentality.?

3. Build basic knowledge and skills in your area and beyond

There is no better way to start your climate exploration journey by engaging in a conversation. There are many platforms where professionals on all sides of the climate table share views, insights and opportunities.?

No matter if it’s Linkedin or a specific Slack group, chime in and be a part of 1-2 communities and engage in the conversation. Read what others are building and doing and comment on their work.?

There is an abundance of great content, communities, trainings and books out there that I would recommend you read and engage with. No right, or wrong just dig in.

Here are a few professionals I would recommend you follow and engage in their climate conversations:?

Arman Anatürk ?

Anna Alex ?

Jigar Shah ?

Fatih Birol ?

Bill Gates

Roberta Boscolo ?

Daniela V. Fernandez ?

Mafalda Duarte

Herbert Diess

Lubomila Jordanova ?

Rose Marcario

Joel Makower

John Doerr

Mark Carney

Diana Olick

Heather Clancy

Ali Sheridan

Alexia Kelly

Mark Tercek

Amy Harder

Lynn Jurich

@

Oh… and you can also follow Illai Gescheit – that’s me!?

Here are a few communities that I would recommend you to explore:?

Work on Climate – Eugene Kirpichov , Jeremy Brewer

MCJ Collective – Cody Simms , Jason Jacobs and Yin Lu ?

Climate Raise – Maki Tazawa

ClimateAction.tech – Heather Baden , Melissa Hsiung ?

New Energy Nexus

Climate Draft – Jonathan Strauss , Joel Wish ??

Brown Girl Green and Green Job Boards - Kristy Drutman

4. Create your own long list of climate job opportunities

As you are iterating your passion, focus and value in your climate job exploration, I would recommend you build a long-list of opportunities.? You could find those opportunities the same way I find deals for investing – let’s call it your “dealflow”!?

How to build your dealflow? First use the focus you defined in the previous stages of this framework and then scout for opportunities from different sources. I would recommend you to go to job boards, corporate job pages and also Climate VCs job boards as they aggregate opportunities within a focused portfolio and could help you accelerate your search.?

In some of the communities you will join, you will have a channel on the community slack dedicated for job posts. Linkedin will also be a good source both from posts of people you follow but also from Linkedin Job tool. While engaging in the conversations you will find a lot of meetups like Climate Hack and other events. Most importantly, you will meet people in the industry and if you manage to build good personal relationship and make sure you tell them what you are looking for, you will be amazed by the willingness of people in the climate tech community to help you to connect with opportunities.?

You need to create a funnel of opportunities and as you iterate steps 1-4 of this framework more and more you will find that your dealflow is with better quality and quantity.?

5. Apply

Promise me one thing – promise me that you apply – don’t overthink it. Applying to the roles you prioritize in this process is a part of the learning process. The feedback or the lack of feedback will teach you a lot and will guide you with your iterative process.?

If you are interviewing, in addition, to being focused on getting one job or another, use it as a learning opportunity. You will get to meet people who work in the field and learn from them about their culture, their skills and their businesses.?

So please apply.?