How to Become a Sustainability Consultant: Gaining Clarity on Your Direction (post 1 of 3)

One of the questions I am often asked is how to become a sustainability consultant and support organizations with implementing sustainability and going green practices while getting paid for it. I’ve been a environmental sustainability consultant for 15 years, and there are a few things that I have learned along the way.

As I’m sure you’ve guessed, there is a lot that goes into becoming a environmental sustainability consultant. In this three-part series, I’ll share some of the characteristics that, in my experience, differentiates a successful sustainability consultant one from one who likely won’t make it in the long term.  The information provided in these three posts is intertwined and often works together, so be sure to check out all three posts to get a complete picture.

Let’s start with step 1, gaining more clarity to see if sustainability consulting is a fit for you.  Think about the following three questions and how they apply to you. While you are reading through these, you may want to pause and reflect or journal on the answers that resonate for you.

1.     Do you REALLY want to be a consultant?

If you are reading this, you likely care and/or are passionate about helping the planet. You may have been daydreaming about taking action, joining a local community group, or starting or joining the Green Team at work. You may already have taken steps at home to go green. Now you want to translate it into a career.

The question is – does your personality, your ideal career path and your lifestyle match that required for consulting? A consultant is an expert who provides analysis, insights and recommendations to organizations around a particular topic. They can be in-house or, most commonly, work externally with multiple organizations.  Consultants can be advisors, ambassadors, facilitators and/or implementors, and as a consultant, you should be comfortable and prepared to play any and all of those roles. A consultant needs to be disciplined, flexible, confident, creative, have great interpersonal skills, and enjoy problem-solving. Depending on the consulting project, the work may require you to travel and put in long hours.

When reading the above, is that something that sounds exciting? Does it align with your strengths and your character? You may not feel like you have everything that it takes to be a consultant as described above – but if you feel like you fit the majority of the description, then consulting could be for you.    

2.     Is sustainability consulting, specifically, right for you?

Again, you may have been daydreaming about spending your time doing something worthwhile, that addresses some of the issues that we are facing around climate change, plastics pollution, water scarcity (depending on where you are in the world) and more. You want to make a difference. The question is – is sustainability consulting, in particular, the right vehicle for you to achieve that dream?

Sustainability consultants can help develop, coordinate, and manage sustainability and going green practices. Some of the work that sustainability consultants do includes looking at an organization’s strategy, managing specific projects around sustainability, analyzing and improving the supply chain, supporting the design and development of new products, and training others on sustainability practices.  As a sustainability consultant, you may be working on multiple projects, addressing different sustainability topics, potentially across different industries. The work can be exciting, fun, fast-paced, but it can also be stressful, ambiguous and emotionally-charged (if you care deeply about the topic).

Does this type of work align with what you would like to be spending your time on when you think about having a career related to helping the environment?  Would you rather do this and work on multiple projects at once, with different organizations, or be a sustainability specialist focused on one or a couple of projects working within an organization?

3.     What type of sustainability consulting is right for you?

If you have read the first two questions and feel that sustainability consulting would be a good fit and something that you are excited about doing, the next question is – what do you want to focus on within the environmental sustainability consulting field?

The term ‘sustainability consultant’ is very general and there are many different ways to approach the area of sustainability consulting. You can choose a specific niche (e.g. supply chain, strategy, operations, energy, water, waste, etc..) or you can be general. You can focus on a specific industry or on specific services across multiple industries. You can work with small versus medium-sized organizations or both.

Which resonates the most? Take some time and think about your ideal consulting project. If you’re not sure what that would look like, review the information in the three questions above and use those to inform your thinking. For example, you may love analysis and problem-solving, specifically around supply chain issues. You may also have some experience or education related to the mining industry. So, an ideal sustainability consulting project may be one related to supply chain issues in the mining industry.

Do keep in mind when going through these three questions that you do not need to feel completely comfortable with all aspects of consulting, or sustainability consulting. But it is helpful to have an idea of what to expect and work towards gaining clarity – and the skills – needed to increase your odds of succeeding as a sustainability consultant.  

Be sure to check back here next week for the second in this three-part blog series around how to become a sustainability consultant.

P.S. If you are currently working within an organization and are looking to grow your skill set and knowledge around sustainability by starting with where you currently work, be sure to download our free Beginner’s Guide to Going Green, with 50+ low-cost and low barrier to entry projects and much more to get started with. If you are looking at becoming a consultant, this could also be helpful in providing you will additional information around potential projects and the business case for going green.

Anca Novacovici

Anca is an author, speaker and founder of Eco-Coach Inc. She is passionate about supporting individuals and organizations around going green and environmental sustainability. You can connect with her on LinkedIn.