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Green careers and environmental sustainability

The green careers sector is broad and comprises a wide range of employers and career opportunities, both outdoors and office-based.

It can include:

  • conservation
  • environmental assessment
  • energy
  • sustainability
  • corporate social responsibility (CSR)
  • and a range of land-based and animal-related careers
Find out about environment and energy

Keep up with news and current issues by reading:

Use of AI in the sector

There is considerable scope for AI use in the environment and energy sector; skills in AI and data analytics will be valuable alongside environmental training for careers in this sector. Examples include: analysis of datasets to improve weather forecasting and climate modelling; biodiversity mapping and monitoring; water quality and management; sustainable agriculture (eg Earth Observation to improve decision-making for food production and supply chain efficiency); optimising renewable energy (GOV.UK UK AI Energy Council); waste management.

What skills will I need?

Work in the environment sector is likely to require a degree in Life Sciences, Environment or Ecology, possibly with a postgraduate qualification, though other subjects may be acceptable for some roles.

Useful skills include: 

  • Demonstrable interest in environment and sustainability
  • teamwork
  • communication skills
  • negotiation skills
  • commercial awareness

Look at the Green careers hub green skills and IEMA skills map for more suggestions.

For more information about professional skills and how to develop them, see the York Strengths Professional Skills page.

Work experience

Getting work experience is important for this sector, to make you stand out as a graduate applicant, and may be gained by volunteering, summer internships or a placement year.

  • Some larger organisations offer vacation internships, but these are likely to be companies in the water, energy, construction, oil, manufacturing, chemical and defence sectors.
  • York Internships part of Careers and Placements, works with local organisations to develop paid project based internships, which are advertised on Handshake. We receive relatively small numbers of scientific research or lab based projects, but business related projects within organisations can offer useful insights, and all projects will give you experience of project management and a range of other employability skills. 
Find jobs

Jobs in green careers, sustainability and energy

A wide range of employers recruit into this sector, including organisations in the private and public sectors, charities and NGOs.

Labour market information (LMI)

See Prospects job profiles for the sector, for suggestions on employers and jobs sites. Use the following list as a starting point for your job search:

General environment/conservation/multiple functions:

Agriculture/farming:

Energy/utilities:

Environmental consultancy/resource economics:

UK and European government departments and agencies:

Food, fisheries and marine:

Meteorology

Renewable energy:

Sustainability and CSR:

Toxicology:

Jobs boards and LinkedIn can also be useful in your job search.

The recruitment process

Large graduate recruiters will typically have online application forms, while smaller companies may require a CV. Check closing dates for opportunities and plan accordingly. Allow as much time as possible to make your application. Some graduate vacancies may be advertised up to a year in advance, but other opportunities may be more immediate, with a period of weeks from advert to deadline. Always follow the application method stated in the job advert. See our pages on applying for jobs to help you, and find out more about CVs on the CV page.

What can I do at York?

Make the most of your time at York to build relevant skills and experience, and find out about this sector. You could:

More resources: people to follow, podcasts, blogs

Connect with York graduates

Join York for Life to connect with our global network of alumni. Start building your own network - find people from your course, look at different careers, ask questions and request a mentor.

Use LinkedIn to make connections, follow organisations of interest, and find out what York graduates are doing. Find out more about using LinkedIn and networking.

Podcasts

British Council case studies

Read inspiring stories about UK alumni and green careers in different parts of the world, in the British Council's Green careers directory.

Blogs