Here's how you can craft a strategic career plan in line with your values and goals for a sustainable future.

Start with self-assessment by identifying core values focused on sustainability and the five elements (earth, water, fire, air, space), and assess strengths, skills, and interests. Research sustainable careers and stay informed about trends. Set clear short-term goals (1-3 years) for skills or certifications and long-term goals (5-10 years) for leadership roles. Develop skills through education, workshops, and networking. Gain experience via internships, volunteering, and projects. Regularly review progress and seek feedback to adapt your plan. Maintain a work-life balance and commit to continuous learning. Align with sustainable organizations whose culture fits your values. Integrate the five elements into your value system

I have changed professions twice and once transitioned from corporate life to entrepreneurship. To ensure successful transitions, here are the steps I followed: - Networking: I spoke with professionals already working in the field to confirm the alignment of my aspirations. - Education: I evaluated whether I needed additional education/training for the new role. - Career Path: I explored the possibility of making a lateral move within my current company versus the need to switch companies. - Financial Planning: I saved enough money to cover expenses for a period as a safety net. It's crucial to evaluate additional factors relevant to you. However, I strongly recommend making a change if you're no longer happy with what you're doing.

In this case, everything should begin with a self-assessment, particularly focusing on beliefs and values. Subsequently, through reflections on context, purpose, and learnings, a preliminary personal strategic plan can be initiated. By following these steps, it becomes possible to create a plan that addresses not only your career but also your life. As a consequence, alignment between personal aspirations and the life project will be ensured.

Identifique claramente seus valores e princípios de sustentabilidade, garantindo que seu plano de carreira esteja alinhado com suas convicções pessoais e profissionais.

Defina metas específicas, mensuráveis, alcançáveis, relevantes e temporais (SMART) que reflitam seu compromisso com a sustentabilidade.

When looking at the clean energy sector itself , it has seen a 40% growth in jobs over the past decade. Identify roles that match your skills and interests, and educate yourself on required qualifications—networking with professionals can boost your job prospects by 70%. Building these connections opens doors to opportunities that align perfectly with your sustainable career path, ensuring a meaningful and impactful professional journey.

Several career pathways are actually at the intersection of two or more of the UN's 17 SDGs. I'd highly recommend looking through them and aligning yourself with as many as you can, and then looking into the initiatives taking place in compliance with the goals that spark an interest. I, for example, work at the intersection of 3 SDGs - Good Health and Wellbeing (Goal 3), Quality Education (Goal 4) and Climate Action (Goal 13) - and work on projects and initiatives that work on each individual goal. Due to my interest in these distinctive goals, I've developed some technical expertise over the years and can provide additional insight to better align an initiative/project to more than just the 1 SDG they began with.

Pesquise setores e empresas que compartilham seus valores de sustentabilidade e busque oportunidades de carreira dentro desses contextos.

We might imagine that acquiring skills for our careers would necessarily require a large investment or even years of study. However, with a wide range of content available online, it is possible to train in countless subjects for free or at a low cost, and often at your own pace. In my career, I have always combined university education with short courses and training at all kinds of institutions. As access has become much easier thanks to the popularization of the internet and social media, new content is offered every day and more knowledge and skills are shared around the world, offering endless possibilities to professionals who want to develop their careers.

When people think about “gaining skills” for a sustainability career, they tend to think about qualifications. This is one path, but not the only one. If you’re in a large org with an existing sustainability team, reach and ask what kind of support they might need developing their agenda in your part of the org, and find a way to help. If you’re in a small org without an existing team, propose to management that you form a team to start thinking about how sustainability could be incorporated into the org. This may involve volunteering some time, but this will probably not be more time that you would have spent earning a qualification. In a short period of time, you will have started orienting your career to be a sustainability career.

Desenvolva habilidades relevantes, como gestão ambiental, análise de ciclo de vida e conhecimento de regulamentações, para fortalecer sua posição no campo da sustentabilidade.

Connect with individuals from varied walks of life, varying levels of experience and/or knowledge, and share your experience and knowledge with the world to have others looking for like-minded people to find you! Platforms like LinkedIn and Instagram can help cultivate a personal brand very well, and when used right, can help us grow as people too! I found a few of my job roles through job postings and people I connected with on LinkedIn, and learn something new everyday from the vast sea of knowledgeable content that Instagram has become. Highly recommend using social media to work for you instead of having these sites drag us into doomscrolling and other similar effects!

Construa uma rede de contatos com profissionais de sustentabilidade através de eventos, conferências e plataformas online para troca de conhecimento e oportunidades.

Reavalie regularmente suas metas e progresso, ajustando seu plano de carreira conforme necessário para se manter alinhado com as tendências e inovações em sustentabilidade.

Busque inspiração em histórias de sucesso de outros profissionais na área de sustentabilidade para moldar e motivar sua trajetória, adaptando estratégias que funcionaram bem para eles.