I'm curious, are people starting new jobs in carbon removal? We're in the middle of a pandemic, things are chaotic, carbon removal is small emerging industry...
So I asked on AirMiners Slack in the #job_postings channel: "Who here has started a job recently in carbon removal in the last 6 months?" Seven people stepped forward and shared their stories.
Reading through the replies, one thing that stands out is these people are bringing their skills to carbon removal from another industry. There's a person from the software industry, he became Chief of Staff at a direct air capture company. There's an academic researcher, she's now working on mapping out different carbon removal projects. There's a communications expert, he is now part of a podcast on carbon removal.
There's this powerful narrative around the transferability of skills. Bring all your experience, your curiosity, everything that you've learned in other parts of life, bring that to carbon removal. Yes, sorbents and soils may be new topics for you. But what you really need is curiosity and the and the kind of audacity to say "I'm going work in this in this field".
The other thing that stood out to me is how quickly people are making the transition. Some of the people who responded were just a year ago (or even a few months ago) starting to explore carbon removal, getting curious and learning more. Today, they are showing how to be a leader in carbon removal, avoiding common traps like the Newbie trap, and making their way to the helm of leading new solutions.
Heck yeah! It's inspiring. And imagine a year from now how many people are going to be working in carbon removal who are just getting started today. Maybe they'll hear about arbon removal for the first time around the turkey table.
If you've started working in carbon removal in the last 6 months, I'd love to hear from you. There's a link to the discussion here if you're on AirMiners Slack, otherwise just hit reply to this email.
Also, those who have made the switch have wisdom to share. They figured out how to navigate the COVID jobs market within a startup industry, how to get specific about what they wanted, and how to put their skills to use. There's potential for getting these people together and sharing some more of their wisdom, maybe a Q&A session or something like that. Hit reply if that's of interest either to speak at or attend, otherwise stay tuned.
I write a weekly newsletter highlighting the AirMiners community and carbon removal industry.
Every week you’ll get insider perspective and community stories from the cutting edge of carbon removal.
The purpose of this newsletter is to accelerate the carbontech industry by speeding up connections, progress, and coordination. It's ideal for people working in carbon removal already, or beginners who want one individual's perspective. People curious about carbon removal are encouraged to sign up and see what sticks.
Subscribe here to get the next weekly update as soon it comes out.