LinkedIn is a crucial tool for professionals across industries, including environmental consultancy. It provides an ideal platform to network, showcase expertise, and ultimately secure a job. However, merely having a LinkedIn profile is not enough to stand out. It is essential to craft a profile and engage with the platform in ways that highlight skills and experience.
Below are some key strategies to help you master LinkedIn.
1. Optimizing the LinkedIn Profile
Headline: The headline should reflect more than just your job title. Highlight specialized skills – even if those skills are still in progress. For example: “Sustainability specialist passionate about Climate Change mitigation.”
Summary: The summary should be engaging and convey work passion. Showcase key accomplishments, career goals, and the value brought to the field. Keep it short!
Experience and Skills: Detail past work experience, focusing on measurable achievements. Include relevant skills like environmental impact assessments and sustainability planning.
Tip: in the ‘Jobs’ page, find 3-5 jobs you would like to apply to. Read carefully their ‘Job Responsibilities’ section. Take note of how they describe the duties — pay attention to the words used. If those duties resonate with your past experience, then describe your previous jobs using a similar style and language. Keeping a similar language helps the algorithm flag you to the job posters!
Profile Picture: A high-quality, approachable, and professional image is essential for establishing credibility. Avoid ID pictures, and the one wearing your graduation gown — it biases you towards inexperienced. In some cultures, it is acceptable to use, for example, a name infographic instead of a picture.
Senior professionals with an established career have leverage here and can use a stunning drone picture of them swimming on top of a seagrass meadow as a profile picture : )
Qualifications: Describe your qualifications such as you university education and relevant certifications to validate knowledge and expertise. There is no need to describe your grades (that should be confidential), nor your curriculum. It’s okay to talk about your thesis and include links to scientific publications or related media, if applicable.
If you took a Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) from a fancy university like Harvard — then you did not study at Harvard. It is frown upon to take credit for what you are not. List those MOOC in your Certificate section and only add degrees in your Education section.
2. Build a Network and Engage
Connect with Industry Professionals: Start connecting with people you know personally, then expand to acquaintances in the same field. Then, use LinkedIn’s search tools to find relevant connections by location and company. For example, search the profile of potential employer companies and in their ‘People’ page, find and connect with the ones working in teams you would like to join.
Tip: instead of ‘Connect’, choose the ‘Personalize Invite’ option, and send a quick note, like ‘Hey [Name], I would like to connect and keep in touch, maybe I could get advice from you in the future regarding working at [Company]’
Engage with Content: Actively like, comment, and occasionally share/repost content on environmental topics. If you can add value, publishing original content such as articles or case studies to make yourself visible. Do not fall in the trap of spamming your connections by using LinkedIn as your personal blog. Less is more when it comes to posting on this platform.
Follow Relevant Companies and Groups: Stay updated on trends and job openings by following consultancy firms, NGOs, and your dream companies.
3. Find Jobs
LinkedIn’s advanced job search filters make it easier to find roles that match specific expertise in environmental consultancy. However, the job search should restrain from exclusively search for positions matching the title in your diploma. Consultancy companies group environmental disciplines (biologist, ecologist, soil scientists geographer) under the Environmental Consultant/Environmental Scientist umbrella.
- Are you an agronomist looking for a job as a consultant? Search for ‘Environment Consultant or Environmental Scientist’ jobs.
- Are you a geographer with a good foundation or interest on land management? Same. Search for ‘Environment Consultant or Environmental Scientist’ jobs.
You get the idea. Find the open positions, read whether the description aligns with your knowledge and interests, and apply to those jobs.
Common consultancy job levels: hierarchy levels have different names depending on the company. For example, for AECOM or AESG where I worked, the junior positions are Graduate or Analyst, while a Senior Associate is a leadership position below Associate Director. For the Big Three (MBB) companies, Associates are the entry level positions.
A typical hierarchy for AECOM, Buro Happold, WSP, AESG, or ERM, would look like (adding Senior in between levels):
- Analyst or Graduate Consultant/Scientist
- Coordinator
- Consultant
- Manager or Associate
- Principal or Senior Associate
- Director
Contact the job poster: Most positions are filled by someone who was recommended or known to the boss. While that is frustrating at an entry-level, the market it is a system built on trust. Create that trust by securing a conversation with the job poster or the hiring person. LinkedIn allows you to see the poster if you have a Premium subscription, but there are ways to get around it.
For example, if the Job Description of an opening at AECOM Dubai says that the candidate will report to the Environment Director, search ‘Environment Director’, filter it for ‘People’, company = AECOM, location = Dubai. Send a personalized invite and let them know that you intent to apply to the opening.
Learn about companies: Explore companies in the environmental sector to stay informed about job openings and gain an edge in the application process.
4. General Remarks
Maintain professionalism: Keep a professional tone in posts and interactions, maintaining focus on expertise. Passion for environmental issues can foster connections with like-minded professionals.
Consistency: regularly update the profile, engage with the network, and share relevant content to reinforce professional identity.
Think about your next move: an ace up your sleeve would be to keep your profile updated thinking about your next position. For this, search the jobs you would like to have after learning the skills of your current level and position. If you are an Environmental Analyst, your next move would be Senior Environmental Analyst, or Environmental Coordinator. Search for the responsibilities of such jobs, and start acquiring those skills in your current job. Once you get comfortable performing those tasks, tailor your profile with keywords used to describe those responsibilities.
The Environment Consultant 