Really appreciate your comment. There are a number of ways to find companies that are into Green in the hospitality industries. It is great that you have a BS in Hotel Management. Here in Orlando, I think you would find opportunities to start with the kind of company you are looking for, but that holds true for San Diego, Vegas, Phoenix, and, of course other cities with hotels galore.

In any job search, the most important part is targeting the company, which I think you have already concluded. Target several hotels in the geography you want to live and research the heck out of them. I don’t think it is as easy as finding a job listing just waiting for you. Know your target companies and start to network. Approach their personnel departments and see if it is good to have a resume on file, see what openings they are filing, understand what they hire BSs into.

A few great sources for finding green hoteliers:
designated green lodgers in FL http://www.dep.state.fl.us/greenlodging/lodges.htm
http://www.greenlodgingnews.com/
http://www.greenhotels.com/
designated green lodgers in CA http://www.travel.dgs.ca.gov/Lodging/GreenDirectory.htm

These sites are just a few. There are several sites that provide green company profiles and best green companies, etc. Scandic hotels in Scandanavia is a real leader in green. You can read about them in the Book The Natural Step for Business. The list I thought was terrific because it showed ratings of companies across several corporate responsiblity indices is at Net Impact. Since I am a member, I am not sure whether you have to be a member to get to the ratings, but just this report would be worth the membership fee in Net Impact, not to mention all the other learning resources it gives a recent grad. Go to: http://www.netimpact.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=879.

Once you have developed a list of possible companies, then review their web sites to see what they are doing related to sustainability, are there real results, are they publishing a corporate responsibility Report (if so, read), and if not, send them an email that you couldn’t consider working for their company due to their lack of commitment or progress on sustainability.

I am not a scientist or engineer either, although I have managed and led many of them through my career to deliver major new product offers, process redesigns, improvements, and new systems. I don’t expect to find a ‘green’ job. The best green companies don’t have green jobs (except in the very technical realms), they are integrating sustainability into every business unit and every job. Look for an entry level position where you think you can add further value to that hotel by using a sustainability lens.

I am an avid reader, which dates me. I encourage you to delve deeply into sustainability books and green lodging. There is so much available on what hotels can do to reduce their carbon footprint, help to restore the environment and be socially responsbile. You need to be knowledgeable if not in overall sustainability, at least what sustainability is for hotels and what actions are producing results.

Hope this is helpful,

Debbie Deland

The dilemma: I graduated with a BS in Hotel Management and am not interested, nor qualified to work for a wind farm, biodiesel company, etc. I want to be part of hospitality company willing to make the changes necessary to run a successful business, while keeping the Earth and their impact in mind. There are a growing number of companies like this, but it is a struggle to find job listings with them. Many do not advertise or are more interested in long-term experience with their type of business, rather than your knowledge and interests in their green efforts.

I would love feedback on this if anyone has any suggestions at finding these types of jobs/companies.