Clean Tech Jobs are Getting Hot:
MBAs finding great jobs in this booming new field
By Ryan Schneider
It’s no secret – most MBA students enter business school to enhance their business value and their
potential financial outlook. Given this objective, only a small percentage of students pursue careers in
sustainability or any “green” industries, which historically pay much lower wages. This has created a
stereotype that those who do obtain such jobs are liberal idealists, who are not interested in traditional
business school jobs. Similar to public school teachers, green initiatives have not been able to entice the
most qualified candidates for their businesses.
However, in the current economy, green jobs are diversifying and creating new opportunities for MBA
graduates to not only change the business landscape, but make a whole lot of money doing it. Bill Joy,
Co-Founder of Sun Microsystems and Co-Founder of venture capital firm, Kleiner Perkins, says, “I think
the greatest legal creation of wealth today is in the green area – not just in the U.S., but also in the
developed world.”
It doesn’t matter what background you are coming from, whether you want to be a banker, consultant,
or general manager, there are needs for your skills in the green industry. For example, new jobs include
financial emissions brokers, bio-fuel engineers, green architects, and sustainability managers. And the
growth of these jobs is only going to continue. K.R. Sridhar, CEO of Bloom Energy, believes that 50,000
jobs will be created in the clean tech sector by 2010. Peter Beadle, president of Greenjobs.com,
estimates that there will be over 2 million jobs in solar power alone by 2020. (Quotes from 10/9/07
article in Newsweek by Daniel McGinn).
This transition has even trickled down to the ways Anderson students are prioritizing their own career
choices. Second year student, Martin Key, came to Anderson without considering a career in clean
technology. But after completing his summer internship at a local private equity firm, Key realized the
potential financial benefits in this sector. “I did not realize the financial opportunities that are available
within cleantech…with energy prices constantly increasing and oil hitting $88 a barrel, many projects
that were not viable only a few years ago now represent potential windfalls for investors,” said Key.
Derrick Bolton, Director of Admissions at Stanford Business School, calls us the “and” generation – we
want to make money and help the environment. That sounds a lot like the mission statement of Net
Impact, which can help you find available jobs that fit the bill of the “and” generation. Whether you are
considering a corporate career or hoping to create a start-up, going green might be a great way to make,
well, a lot of green.