My advice for a student hoping to get a job in climate

Every month I speak to at least two or three students who have reached out to me, usually on LinkedIn, who are hoping to get a job once they graduate in the climate space. I figure for each of these people there are probably two more who would love to know this information but for whatever reason don’t like to send cold connection requests.

As a caveat, my experience specifically comes from working in climate policy, in a thinktank. The climate space is much bigger than policy. I can only write to what I know. Your mileage may vary!

Without further ado, here’s the advice I wish I had as a student. It boils down to four things: learning, networking, getting (relevant) experience, and volunteering. Most of this is probably pretty generic to any field! But, regardless, here’s what I think.

1. Learn

You may already be studying something extremely relevant to tackling climate change, like geography or environmental science. But, like me, you may be studying a relatively unrelated field, like economics, politics or law, where papers about the environment form a minority of your courseload. Regardless, there’s a lot you can do to increase your knowledge of climate.

I’d recommend reading books, both new releases and classics. For me, books that made a big difference early on in my climate journey were things like This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein, Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit, and Fossil Capital by Andreas Malm. More recent releases that have taught me a lot include books like A Planet to Win by Daniel Aldana Cohen et al, The Climate Diplomat by Peter Betts and Overshoot and The Long Heat by Andreas Malm and Wim Carton.

For staying up to date with current affairs, I’d recommend newsletters. Carbon Brief do an indispensable daily/weekly newsletter. If climate diplomacy is your bag then look no further than the Climate Diplomacy Briefing. But there are others. Podcasts can also be good.

Finally, there are webinars. A lot of think tanks and NGOs regularly hold online events where they discuss their latest research or campaigns. Keep an eye out for these by trawling the websites of organisations that you like the look of. This is a good way to take the temperature of where the cutting edge is.

2. Network

I know. Networking is so painful (especially for an introvert like me). But it has to be done.

LinkedIn is one thing (my main piece of advice for LinkedIn is to always, always send a specific and tailored message with your connection request). However, there’s no substitute for in-person networking.

If you’re in London or within a reasonable distance, there’s no excuse not to be turning up to events. Every month there are climate events put on by various universities, think tanks and NGOs. If you don’t know where to start, search on Eventbrite. Each June there is London Climate Action Week, where hundreds of events take place. There are monthly London climate drinks. Heaps of opportunities to meet people in the sector that you want to work in. The same advice goes if you’re in any big city.

Networking at an event isn’t hard. The small talk script basically writes itself: “What made you come to this event?” “What did you think of speaker X?” “What’s your biggest takeaway?”

3. Get (relevant) work experience

When it comes time to apply for your first graduate job, having (relevant) work experience will set you above the rest.

Undergraduates have long summers, which are perfect for working. Meanwhile, a PhD is 3-4 years long and most universities will let you work alongside your studies to some extent (Cambridge lets you work for up to 10 hours a week). Taking an internship one day a week for a few months is a good way to broaden your horizons while not distracting too much from your thesis.

How to find internships in the climate space? There’s no easy answer. While there are definitely some advertised (to find these I recommend trawling the websites of organisations that you admire), I personally had no luck with applying for these. Instead, I got two of my internships via completely cold emails. My advice for cold emails is to be as specific as possible about why you admire the organisation’s work, what you could bring to the organisation, and always attach your CV.

What to do if you can’t find an internship in climate? Don’t panic. Almost any internship/work experience will give you transferrable skills, which you can leverage in job applications later on. For example, does this internship give you experience in written and oral communication? Does it teach you data analysis, project management, or research? If so, great. All of these skills are indispensable in my current job.

The other good thing about internships is that they’ll also teach you what you like or don’t like about a given workplace or sector. You may find once you do an internship, for instance, that you don’t actually like or want to work in climate, or in a given type of organisation! That’s extremely important information to know.

4. Volunteer

It’s not always possible to get paid work experience in the climate field. Meanwhile, there’s lots of relevant experience to be had in the voluntary sector. There are a myriad of climate organisations, ranging from student societies to NGOs, who rely on volunteers to get things done. There are all sorts of different roles available and it’s a way to gain relevant experience and relevant knowledge, as well as demonstrate dedication.

Personally, during my PhD I got involved in my college’s divestment campaign. Engaging with a big, old institution to try and get it to change its ways when it came to investment in fossil fuels taught me a lot of skills that I now use in my job. I think it also counted as a plus in my job application as it showed commitment to the cause.

Of course, it’s not always possible to volunteer. Maybe you have caring responsibilities or work many hours a week already. If that’s the case, don’t panic. Volunteering definitely isn’t necessary to find a job later on. But if you can do it, I recommend it.

Good luck!

I hope this post was helpful. My only request of you is that, please, if you do end up getting a job in the climate space, pay it forward and give your honest advice to those who will inevitably ask you the same questions that I get asked all the time.