Environmental Career fair exposes students to green jobs

According to Kermit the Frog, it isn’t easy being green.

But at Wednesday’s environmental career fair, students interested in eco-friendly careers learned about the vast amount of green occupations available to them.

Professionals at Wednesday’s Environmental Careers Networking Night represented retail, advocacy, litigation and policy-making groups to more than 40 students.

Seventeen companies showcased careers in fields ranging from sustainable design and development to disaster planning to installing solar panel devices in crawl spaces.

Recruiters from the attending companies varied in their criterion for prospective employees.

Graham Alexander from Southern Energy Management described his job as more accessible to the average person.

“My job is more hands-on. It’s working with policy makers to make something that applies to everyday people,” Alexander said.

Other representatives, such as entrepreneur Evelyn Contre of Springleaf Strategies, emphasized the need for communication and cooperation.

“All hands on deck,” she said.

Not all students who attended were environmental science majors, but some said they were interested in figuring out the role the environment plays in different occupations.

“I know what I’m interested in, I just don’t know how to apply that to a career,” senior Kate Jenkins said.

University Career Services holds panels, career fairs and networking nights every year to give students information about prospective career fields and the opportunity to make contacts.

UCS Director Marcia Harris said the networking nights are one of the most successful events that UCS has implemented in the last five years.

“We try to focus on careers that we know students are interested in,” Harris said.

Panels usually include four to six professionals while networking nights can include up to 30 professionals, Harris said.

The networking nights are intended to be informal, low-key events. Companies are not expected to take many resumes, but students can still land summer internship opportunities and forge future career contacts.

UCS will be hosting two more careers networking nights this semester, one Oct. 7 for the performing arts and one Nov. 18 for international careers.

Harris said more underclassmen should attend UCS events. Students can register at careerweb.unc.edu.

“The savvy students would be coming to these events as early as freshman year,” Harris said. “It’s too late for seniors to act on that advice.”



Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.