HOW TO FIND GREEN JOBS - AN INSIDER'S GUIDE TO FINDING ALL THOSE STIMULUS JOBS

HOW TO FIND GREEN JOBS - AN INSIDER'S GUIDE TO FINDING ALL THOSE STIMULUS JOBS

You'll need to follow the money--and know a few tricks to get there ahead of everyone else.

Five Steps To Finding A Stimulus Job

Tara Weiss sets out step by step instructions in her article, explaining exactly how to find that green energy job.

The Obama administration says the Recovery and Reinvestment Act will create or save 3.5 million jobs over the next two years in areas like health care, renewable energy, construction and education. That's great. But where will you find them?

There will be no one place. The jobs will be offered by countless agencies, states, localities and businesses. So you'll have to employ some serious sleuthing skills.

Following the money is crucial, because "if you know who is winning the bids, you will know who is getting the jobs," in the words of Rick Margolin, managing director of Innovo Energy Solutions Group in Santa Barbara, Calif.

There are several ways to follow the money. First, the Obama administration has promised to regularly update its Web site Recovery.gov to report where funds are going in each congressional district. It will say exactly which private companies are receiving the dollars.

When a local government approves a public works project, like expanding a highway or updating the electrical system in a high school, private companies will bid on the job. The bids will describe how they'll complete the work, how long they will take and what their costs will be. As soon as a bid is accepted, it will be made public at city or town hall meetings and in local newspapers. Follow these bid requests.

Margolin suggests going a step further. Local governments will sponsor workshops to guide companies in properly preparing their bids. He recommends going to those workshops to meet the heads of the firms vying for the work.

"You can sit around and wait for these jobs to get announced, but it will be insanely competitive," says Margolin. "Especially in the Midwest, where so many manufacturing positions have been lost. People who lost jobs in manufacturing are well suited to take jobs in clean energy." He also recommends attending regional conferences to meet movers and shakers in the renewable energy field.
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"When I was hiring, I was always much more impressed by people who had done their homework about my company," says Bob Piper, vice president of workforce development at Associated Builders and Contractors, the trade association for contractors, subcontractors and materials suppliers. "Being prepared puts you at a real advantage."

GrantOneDay.com. "Think about it as a new career, and look at the long range," says Martha R. A. Fields, CEO and founder of the career consulting firm Fields Associates.

If there's a particular type of construction you'd like to get trained in, visit one of the 98 local chapters of the Associated General Contractors of America, a construction industry trade association. Many chapters run training programs in conjunction with local high schools and community colleges. Their duration varies. For crane operators, training takes about six months; highway contractors learn on the job.

There's a good chance that if you go through a training program like that, the contractors will find you, says Brian Deery, senior director of the highway and transportation division of the Associated General Contractors of America. Deery adds that there was a shortage of skilled construction workers even before the economy took a dive. Now that $27.5 billion has been designated for highway and bridge building and repair, he suspects it will be a job seeker's market.

The bottom line, according to Margolin: "Do not wait until you see an announcement. By then you're going to have competition."

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