Manager Sustainability Interview Question:

Tell me what is your advice to someone interested in this field?

Submitted by: Muhammad

Give yourself more future options by sticking out the tougher math and science classes. Find out which classes you need to get into the field you think is interesting. It can be a challenge to pick up classes later if you don't have a good foundation. Volunteer in your community or check out student internships. Getting involved in student groups that work on sustainability is a good start too. For instance, on campus we have a student group Engineers without Borders. They work on global projects and look for people (other than engineers) to be part of the team. The Solar Decathlon team included students from across disciplines, from design, architecture, and engineering. The Active Energy Club conducts energy audits. MPIRG is politically involved. You can learn good skills in student groups like these. Students show a lot of interest in these topics. On campus, we had students at forums talking about energy and wanting to be involved. Conversation at these forums revolved around what students could do. Now they are involved in re-commissioning buildings by measuring energy use, and putting up "Turn off the lights" reminders on switches. You can put those things on your resume.
Submitted by: Muhammad