Vibrant discussions. Passionate coworkers. Meaningful work. Solving one of the biggest challenges of our time.
Who wants it?
Certainly not you, right? After all, you wouldn’t want to spend your career trying to solve such a complex issue with no easy answers that will impact the life of every single being on this planet. We get it. That’s why we’ve come up with this handy list of reasons you absolutely, definitely should never, ever work in climate tech.
1. Your job will never be the same from one day to the next.
You know that saying about building the plane as you fly it? That’s exactly what working in climate tech is like. Climate tech is a pretty new space, and it’s growing fast. Investments in climate tech companies totaled $87.5 billion from just H2 2020 and H1 2021, a 210% increase from the prior 12 months. Of every venture capital dollar today, 14 cents goes to climate tech companies.
That means that the space is dominated by start-ups. So not only are you trying to solve the biggest challenge the world has ever seen, but you’re trying to build a business at the same time. That means you wear lots of different hats, and every day brings a new challenge. Your role will probably never be the same from one week to the next. So if you like doing the same boring tasks day in and day out, climate tech is definitely not for you.
Oh, and we haven’t even mentioned growth opportunities yet. You’ll probably get more responsibility before you feel “ready” — it’s all part of building the plane! And you might grow into a space, function, or team you didn’t start out in or never expected to work in. Maybe one that doesn’t even exist yet!
2. Your coworkers will be some of the smartest people you’ve ever met.
Alongside taking on new responsibilities, you’ll find yourself working across different teams with a lot of different people all contributing in different ways. Climate change can’t be solved in a silo, so collaboration is the name of the game. And because there’s no single solution to the climate crisis, no single skill set will be the answer. Climate tech companies are full of people with different backgrounds, skills, viewpoints, and abilities, all working together.
And those people are incredibly smart and passionate about what they do. Sounds like a recipe for imposter syndrome, right? After all, no one wants the chance to learn from their brilliant colleagues, especially when those colleagues are there because they care about other people and the planet. And absolutely no one wants to work in a culture of empathy, knowledge sharing, and growth.
No, thank you.
3. It’s a hard problem with no easy solutions.
It’s literally the biggest crisis facing the world, like, ever. That’s a lot of pressure. The IPCC Working Group just released a report detailing just how dire the situation is — even if we keep global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the goal of the Paris Agreement, there will be big global impacts. And we’re not even moving quickly enough to do that.
We need to act fast to limit greenhouse gas emissions, decarbonize the power grid, clean up the transportation sector, and help communities develop climate resiliency. No big deal. Certainly not a reason to roll up your sleeves and jump in to find solutions — many of which probably haven’t been thought of yet.
4. You’ll be ruined for other industries.
Once you work in climate, there’s “no unseeing it” — you’ll be ruined for other industries, because nothing else will seem as important as solving the climate crisis.
You’ll find it really hard to step away from climate work. This will become a passion that you can’t just leave behind, in your career or in your daily life. That’s right, working at a climate tech company is going to turn you into “that friend” who is forever talking about climate solutions, bringing your reusable cup to coffee shops, and asking your property manager to install more bicycle racks and electric vehicle chargers. You’ll get really excited when your date asks what you do and talk their ear off about community solar and the future of battery storage (not that we know from experience).
And really, do you want to be that passionate about your work?
So there you have it: four reasons not to work for a climate tech company. Sounds pretty terrible, right?
Not convinced? Check out Arcadia’s open positions. If you join us you’ll see for yourself just how complex yet empowering it is to address the climate challenge, how energetic and collaborative our diverse team is in designing solutions, and how charged up you’ll feel every day to change the future of energy. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
