What jobs would be in demand in the future?

How in demand will renewable energy jobs be in the near future?

• I'm really worried about the economy and looking for a quick certification so I can have some sort of qualification in case it totally goes under. I found a 14 credit hour renewable energy certification at a community college. Do you think this will do any good for finding jobs?

• Answer:

  In general, now is a great time to get into the field, as it is still relatively young and growing fast, so there's an overall lack of truly experienced workers in the field. But whether or not you will easily find a job really depends on what you want to do in the sector and what your background is. For positions that don't require any real technical knowledge about the field (i.e. public affairs, legal, accounting, finance, construction), then jobs should be pretty easy to find, even with no formal training/certificate in renewable energy. There are some positions, such as engineers, scientists, environmentalists, or developers where you can probably find a position without any previous experience, but the certificate you mention would certainly help in getting yourself noticed as someone who is really motivated and desiring to be in the field. Then there are the most technical positions, such as plant operators or consultants where a formal degree would probably be most helpful in landing a position. In short, the course you mention is a great idea to get started, but you should also do some research on the exact position you're interested in to see how much background employers expect you to have in the field. For some positions, a short course may be sufficient, in others, it may not be. But if you are motivated and persistent, do all you can to learn about the field and talk to people in the field, and eventually, you should be able to land a position.