I’m working on an upcoming MBA Podcaster show focusing on real-life career opportunities for Green MBAs. Green and sustainability are hot topics in the business world, but how does the global green movement translate into GREEN $$ for business school grads? What do Green MBA’s need from graduate school besides an understanding of finance and accounting? How might the job search differ for a Green MBA grad versus a more traditional MBA? I’ll be asking this of my guests and keeping you posted along the way with blog updates.
Today I’m talking to Katie Kross, Associate Director of the Corporate Sustainability Initiative at Duke University. She also wrote a book on the subject Profession and Purpose: A Resource Guide for MBA Careers in Sustainability. Resource constraints, pressure from different stakeholders and a changing regulatory landscape are going to change the way businesses operate. There are really interesting opportunities for companies to gain a competitive advantage. Businesses with a forward thinking strategy are investing in sustainability. Kross says that it’s a very new field and while there is no manual on how to do sustainability (yet), MBA’s can get up to speed on the issues.
It is important that they understand, not just the business side of things, but also the public policy side of things, because issues like climate change regulation are going to have profound impacts on what the cost-benefit analysis will have on many decisions. So, they need to have an understanding of what it is sustainability and some of the fundamentals of what those environmental and social issues are and how companies are looking at them.
The applications of how these skills will be employed continue to emerge every day. Kross believes that the MBA’s that are graduating now are in a really exciting position because they’re going to be the pioneers. They are the ones that are going to develop how to apply sustainability in a corporate context. They are the ones who are going to write the manuals. Kross says that some of the Green MBA’s also are writing their own job descriptions.
Many of these positions are not posted anywhere publicly. They not on websites, they’re not doing on-campus recruiting. They’re positions that job candidates are writing for themselves based on their relationships and their experiences.
Learn more of what Kross an the other guests have to say about Green MBA job opportunities and how to snag one in our upcoming show that will be live in a couple of weeks. Other guests on the show include:
- Nicola Arcutt, the Associate Dean of the Presidio Graduate School, who will talk about which companies are coming to campus and what they are looking for in a Green MBA;
- Michael Callahan, the co-founder of Powermundo, a sustainable recruiter, who will share his experiences in the job market with his sustainable MBA; and
- Ellen Weinreb, a sustainable recruiter, will talk about job paths for green MBA’s.
Send us any questions you’d ask from these guests. Register on our site to stay tuned when new episodes become available or register for MBA Podcaster on iTunes.
Read the full article: Career Opportunities for Green MBAs: Talking to Duke University Sustainability Guru