Getting the Training You Need for a Successful Green Career

Getting the Training You Need

“I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a

champion.’”

—Muhammad Ali

If you want to thrive in the Green marketplace, education and training are going to be an ongoing part of

your career. The days when you got a degree, went on to a 40-year job with a big company, and maybe got

some training along the line before retiring with a pension are gone. The Green industry is moving and

changing fast, so you’ll have to be flexible, keep up with changes in your field, and continue your education

throughout your lifetime.

Some of your training will be necessary for you to keep pace with changes in technology, government

regulation, and new ways of doing business that are bound to emerge. The rest of your education will be

shaped by choices you’ll make for yourself: how much money you want to make, what kind of work you

want to do, and whether you want to be your own boss.

Not all education happens in the classroom. You may also learn from on-the-job training, books,

apprenticeship programs, community events, magazine articles, the Internet, and other sources. The

point of this article is not to recommend any particular method, but to encourage you to see yourself in a

bigger light—as something more than you are today. Education and training of any kind can make this a

reality.

Learning doesn’t come easily to everyone. I know plenty of pros who can do any job in their field but freak

out when they go in for a certification exam. They still put themselves through it, however, because they

know that the jitters they feel now are temporary, and that successfully completing a degree or certification

will lead to a much bigger payoff.

That’s the bottom line when it comes to any kind of education. You may not like studying, listening to

lectures, or attending training sessions, but all of these things are just warm-ups for the main event. Think

of them as an investment in yourself—one that pays you back for the rest of your life—and you’ll find that

it’

s well worth the effort.

The essential first step in ANY Green career

Imagine

offered

to pay you an extra $7,000 a year for the rest of your career. You probably won’t have

work any harder to make this extra cash. You may even find that you work less, and in better jobs.

Want to know the simple secret? Here it is:

Finish high school.

As far as I’m concerned, a high school diploma is the absolute minimum requirement you need for any

Green career path, and there are statistics galore to prove it. The annual income value of a high school

diploma is regularly calculated by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US Census Bureau, and even

international groups like the Paris-based Organisation of Economic Co-Operation and Development

(OECD). Their conclusion is always the same: finishing high school is one of the smartest investments

you’ll ever make.

Now we’ve all heard stories about multimillionaires and even billionaires who dropped out of high school.

These people have amazing stories, but the key point is they’re just that: amazing. Home runs like these

are one-in-a-billion, and while I won’t say that it can’t happen to you, I can assure you that you have a

better chance of getting struck by lightning multiple times. If you’re at all serious about a Green career,

your best chance of being a success instead of a statistic is to tough it out and finish high school.

That $7,000 a year I just offered you? It’s the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ most recent estimate of how

much more employees with a diploma make per year compared to high school dropouts. Other sources

think that annual pay bonus is even higher—$8,000, $9,000, or more—and the estimates tend to increase

year after year.

In other words, if you do nothing more than graduate from high school and work a 9-to-5 job until you’re

65, you could earn an extra $329,000—more than a quarter million dollars—just for finishing high school.

Could you sit still in a classroom for four years for

a quarter million bucks? I did, and I’ve never regretted it.

If extra cash isn’t enough to motivate you, consider this sobering news from The Economics Center for

Education & Research at the University of Cincinnati. In a recent study conducted at the request of the

Ohio Alliance of Public Charter Schools (OAPCS), they found that high school dropouts are more likely to

be unemployed, live below the national poverty level, require help from public welfare programs like food

stamps, get caught up in criminal activities, and serve jail time.

In addition to the rewards, financial and otherwise, that you’ll enjoy for the rest of your life, your high school

diploma is often the minimum requirement for certain job positions, apprenticeships, and other training

programs. Think of it as the basic price of admission…most employers do.

Green Career Ladder.com