How to Become an Eco consultant Every Company will rush to Hire

Thinking of what a career in eco consulting looks like? 

While individuals and businesses contribute their quota to reducing adverse environmental effects, eco consultancy remains in high demand. 

As more businesses continue to expose to the reality of climate change, eco consulting is needed more than ever. If you’re:

• Highly creative
• Passionate about your environment
• Ready to learn new ways to recycle and conserve, or, 
• Enjoy educating people about the environment.

It’s high time to learn how to become an eco consultant. 

Obviously, there are a few (but “overcome”) challenges at the forefront of this great career path. 

Becoming a certified eco consultant is not a walk in the park. First, you have to pathway with some chunk of money. 

The sudden fluctuations of the legal landscape can be a little challenging. 

However, if you’re darn serious about your passion, you’ve got to face the bull by the horn. Prepare for the realities. 

That said, here’s all you need to know to become a professional eco consultant every company will love to work with. 

What is Eco Consulting? 

Eco consulting wraps around the idea of educating corporations, companies, and organizations about the most reasonable ways to manage their environmental impacts.

Today, there is a lot of awareness on the importance of energy sustainability. 

According to IPCC, Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change, the world must take proactive measures to limit global warming up to 1.5°C; else, the effect might be traumatic.  

 Eco consultants provide a quantifiable report that’ll splurge businesses to switch from their old practices into a more viable and environmentally friendly option. 

They help businesses fall in line with new environmental regulations. 

What Do Eco Consultants Do?

Your role as an eco consultant is to provide a service that is geared towards helping companies become more energy sustainable.  

Their service predominantly focuses on accessing the environment and making necessary plans for corrective measures. 

For example, an eco consultant might: 

• Assess how an organization manages its natural resources like water, carbon, and energy while looking into how its water products are disposed of. 
•  Investigate how much plastic a business utilizes for packaging and suggest a budget-friendly biodegradable option. 
• Suggest ways a company can reduce waste and conserve more energy.
•  Provide a feasible roadmap to switching to renewable energy. 
• Investigate more ethical material sources and guide businesses on making affordable purchasing practices.

 And lastly, after guiding the company to make those changes, they also team up with the PR department to assist with the media coverage of all improvement processes. 

Eco consultants also educate their clients about the environment while developing relationships with charities and nonprofit groups.

What Kind Of Projects Do Eco Consultants Work On?

Eco consultants work on projects that benefit the environmental state of the community. 

It could be a landmark building or significant projects like GIGA or MEGA projects. Eco consultants work on a variety of projects. 

You can team up with like-minded people from around the world who share similar energy sustainability passion with you. 

What are The Career Options for Eco Consulting?

The eco consultancy industry has a diversified career option. 

You can take your career in several different directions. 

That said, here’s what a typical career trajectory looks like; 

Internship 

You can get started as an intern and work your way up into full-time staff. 

Junior employee 

You can decide to specialize in a particular aspect of the career. 

For example, a project manager. 

Senior staff 

The senior eco consultant takes up leadership and management positions. By now, you have a clear clue of your specialty. 

Leadership role 

Here, you’re already a key person in the organisation. 

What are the Required qualifications for eco consulting? 

I recently educated some aspiring eco consultants, and I thought I should share this with you. 

I often get asked about the required background, qualification, and experience needed to badge a consulting honor. 

It’s one of the many questions I often ask, so let’s figure it out once and for all. 

First off, keep in mind that the ecological consulting road is wide! Let’s start with the academic qualifications. 

Academic experience

Almost all consultancy will prioritize a degree in any of the following fields, including:

• Zoology
• Biology
• Ecology
• Environmental science 

Having certified knowledge in any of these fields will assure your employer that you can handle projects and write reports. 

You’ll also need a scientific background because most ecology reports follow the format of scientific information. 

But, what if you don’t have a qualified degree or you only have a degree in an unrelated field? 

This might be a little challenging because you may need to garner some work experience first. 

The positive side of acquiring work experience is that It presents an opportunity for you to have prior knowledge of eco consulting to decide if the whole career path is worth putting in the work. 

Work Experience

Work experience is diversified and could mean multiple things. 

From events to volunteering, work experience determines your prior knowledge in the field. 

Most times, they are usually volunteering. So it’s left to you to choose how long you want to spend on volunteering.  

And make sure you’re getting a lot of value. 

It makes no sense working for a big organization where all you do is to do the filling. 

How do I get work experience?

You have to discuss what you want to achieve from your experience.

Whether you want to spend a few days or a few months, make sure you clarify what you’re looking for. 

With a consultant 

Every consultancy differs. Do your research. 

Find out what value you can offer and what value you can get. 

For example, you can handle the collation of records that are usually sent to the local record store. 

And hopefully, you might grab a thing or two about how their survey works and identify what the job entails. 

Some consulting agencies have specialties like habitat management or bat work. 

Do proper research of these roles and what value you can offer. 

Wildlife groups 

Almost every country has its personalized wildlife groups. 

You can find several mammal groups, bat groups, bird groups, and national trust, including other national charities, both new and established, offering volunteering opportunities. 

Here are lists of popular wildlife groups You can join. 

• American Bird Conservancy (ABC)

Website: http://www.abcbirds.org/

• Fin Free

Website: http://fin-free.com/

• Jane Goodall Institute

Website: http://www.janegoodall.org

• National Audubon Society

Website: http://www.audubon.org/

• National Wildlife Federation (NWF)

Website: http://www.nwf.org/wildlife/

• Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC)

Website: http://www.nrdc.org/

• Nature Canada

Website: www.naturecanada.ca

Could you please share some example here:

Through courses 

There are pools of helpful courses out there. 

Just make sure you purchase from a reputable source. 

Wildlife organizations also run some free courses. 

Check if your local group runs a great course and how you can be a part.  

Could you please share some example here:

Other Critical Requirements

Driving 

Driving is also a skill to prioritize. You should be able to drive to locations. 

Most locations are remote areas with poor transportation. 

In addition, some tasks might require you to be on-site at unsociable hours of the day.

 However, driving might not be a problem because some companies send out eco consultants in pairs. 

The only problem is you’ll always rely on others. 

I’d advise you to learn how to drive. 

But, if you can’t, try talking to your potential employer about this. 

Computer skills 

Another thing is having great computer skills. Going out for a survey is great. 

But you might need to type out your survey too. Acquire a decent knowledge of Microsoft office. 

What’s more, impress your employer by learning the touch typing course. 

You can find plenty of them on the internet. 

Want to get busier? Learn different skills like gGcs or R-stats. 

Be ready to work for long hours. 

Stay motivated. Keep a positive spirit and maintain professionalism. 

Incorporate all these personality traits. 

While these might look like a difficult job to do, you need to maintain positive energy. 

Whether you’re working in a startup or an established company, always get going. 

What are The Average Salaries Of an Eco Consultant?

Salary varies. It depends on the location of employment and the standard of the company where you work. 

According to Indeed, the average salary of an environmental specialist is around $59,637 per annum, while a general eco consultant averages over $73,775 per annum, which regularly updates its salary figures. 

So the available average salary in the US is between $50,000-$70,000 per annum. 

What Are The Skills You Need To Succeed As An Eco Consultant?

As an eco consultant, you need to professionally combine technical and interpersonal skills to succeed in this role. 

Here are a few skills you need to master to succeed as a professional eco consultant. 

Project management 

Project management involves all necessary skills needed to complete a project that is important on projects that involve environmental assessment and workplace changes.  

Interpersonal communication 

Interpersonal communication is the ability to adjust your communication strategy in a way that suits the understanding of other people. 

One of your most important roles as an eco consultant is the ability to authoritatively educate business owners with limited knowledge of environmental technologies and policies. 

This helps them develop their knowledge of effective environmental practices and safety to facilitate their business efforts. 

Written communication

Written communication involves writing clear, informative messages with no error. 

Your role as an eco consultant will revolve around writing emails, client contracts, PowerPoint presentations, and other necessary documentation. 

Public speaking 

Public speaking involves delivering information in a way that informs or persuades the audience. 

As an eco consultant, you might need to present when educating potential clients, marketing your service, or proposing new ideas to agencies.

Attentive to details 

Being attentive to details means you can quickly identify the tiniest details that might naturally go unnoticed. 

One of your duty as an eco consultant is to survey a construction site and identify environmental factors that might interfere with your project. 

Similarly, you should be able to detect harmful environmental practices that most people might easily ignore. 

Time management 

Time management involves devoting your critical time to productive tasks. 

 As an aspiring eco consultant, you might have multiple clients to attend to, which means you need to master managing your time between these various clients.

Even if you’re only going to work with a single client, it’s still important to master this craft. 

Problem Solving Mindset

This involves identifying a problem and proffering workable solutions. Some clients will only contact you after they’ve fallen into some environmental incident.

 So it’s essential as an eco consultant to develop a problem-solving mindset while maintaining positive energy. 

Negotiating skill 

Negotiating skill allows you to persuade your opponent to agree to your terms or provide an agreement that works for both of you. 

You need to understand how to help your clients negotiate with local agencies on license terms to do business in particular land. 

What Should You Look Out For In An Employer? 

What’s the number one thing to look out for in an eco consulting company? 

Firstly, do you plan to work in a significant company or a small consultancy? 

The most major firm has high brand recognition. Small consultancy is usually known for a faster learning curve.  

Summary 

The fact is eco consultancy is fast becoming in high demand. 

If you’re highly creative, passionate about your environment, and ready to learn new ways to recycle and conserve, then it’s high time to learn how to become an eco consultant. 

While consulting might look like a difficult job to do, you need to maintain positive energy. 

Whether you plan to work in a startup or an established company, always get going.