Five Tips to Transition Into a Sustainability-Focused Career

Simple ways to merge sustainability with your job

Photo by LinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash

I always knew I wanted to work in an impact-oriented role, but the definition of ‘impact-oriented’ has expanded over the past few years. While sustainability has been a passion since I was a teenager, I never considered working in the industry full-time. However, in the past decade, the world radically shifted in many ways, and sustainability is now a global focus, resulting in many new roles and careers. Around two years ago, I transitioned my product management role within a big bank into a sustainable finance-focused role within the same company.

I often get asked how I managed this shift and wanted to share five tips that helped me at the time.

1. Sustainability is a mammoth umbrella term (and so is ‘ESG’). Do some research and keep up regularly with the parts of the sustainability spaces you care about: Are you interested in water conservation? Biodiversity protection? Labour rights overhauls? Anti-racism work? Identify the areas that you lose sleep over and do some initial research to strengthen your understanding of the jobs available in these particular areas. It’s also beneficial to stay updated with these areas and the broader…