r/Environmental_Careers

Is this a good undergrad degree for the future? I’m interested in the business industry, and this degree combines accounting, finance, and environmental/business sustainability (ESG) topics.

Are careers in sustainability/ESG growing or declining? Is this a degree that could lead to good pay and strong job opportunities in the future, or would it be smarter to just get a regular BBA degree instead?

I am mainly wondering:
How valuable this degree will be long term
Whether ESG/sustainability roles are actually in demand
If employers prefer specialized degrees like this or broader business degrees

Most importantly Employability Rate!!

I know a lot of us recent grads are struggling with the job search right now, and honestly it’s been pretty frustrating.

From my experience, I’ve applied to so many jobs online where I either never heard back or got a response months later. Would love to hear experiences of people who actually got the job by applying online.

Is it better to work for a employee owned environmental consulting company?

I think I've just had my most ridiculous rejection yet. I graduated May of 2025 with a degree in environmental science, and since then I have had only 3 interviews. 2 rejections and 1 didn't even contact me afterwards. I'm currently working at a retail store, which honestly hasn't been in too bad since I just started accepting the situation.

Now for my most recent rejection. A position opened for a parks laborer in my county, essentially just maintaining the grounds of the park. It was 18 dollars an hour, barely above what I'm getting paid In retail now. I have a college degree, retail experience, AND my sister works in the county and recommended me to the person who runs it. I thought that would FINALLY be my ticket to at least starting in something in my field.

Nope. Rejected. No interview. Too many qualified candidates. I feel like I'm just losing all hope at this point. I was told to go to college cause it would get me a great paying job, and now I can barely get an interview anywhere.

I currently do GIS for my county's emergency service department. Ive been at this position for about a year and a half. It's a good job, but it is the same area I've grown up (PA) in and doesnt give me any environmental sector experience. I want to work in natural resource management.

I have the opportunity to take a seasonal forestry technician job in Oregon. It would be until late November with the possibility of it turning into a permanent position afterwards, but not guaranteed.

I think this opportunity could give me an in to both natural resource work in general and more opportunities in the PNW (where I want to build a career). I know the job market is rough right now so I am worried about job prospects after the term ends. Would the experience this position gives be worth the risk?

(Some background: I have a BS in Env Sci, GIS Certificate, and have done 3 internships with PA DEP previously that ranged from water quality monitoring to vector management)

Hi everyone. I graduated with a Biology degree a few years ago in South America. In my country, since it’s not very industrially developed, there weren’t many career opportunities besides pursuing a government-funded PhD/research path in some specialized field. It was very competitive to get into, and to be honest, I realized I didn’t really enjoy the academic route.

So I ended up working unrelated jobs and basically left my degree collecting dust for years.

Now I’m at a point where I feel a strong need to finally build a real career connected to my background. I don’t necessarily need to “follow my passion” 100% anymore — I’m willing to specialize in something practical if it means having a stable future for myself and my future family.

After struggling professionally for years, I really want to avoid choosing another path with poor job prospects. My plan is to continue training/studying over the next couple of years and eventually move to Europe (I’m currently in the process of obtaining EU citizenship).

I’ve seen several people mention water resources / wastewater treatment as a field with strong job demand and decent pay. That caught my attention because stability matters a lot to me now.

Do you think that could be a good direction for someone with my background? Or are there other environmental fields with better employability that I should seriously consider?

I’d really appreciate honest advice from people already working in the industry.

Hello, this is my first time ever on here so sorry if I don't explain my question good or write something wrong. My main question is can I work/do on anything related on wildlife conservation or environmental with a associate degree in science (with ecology/zoology classes) with that degree? Or what type of job/carrer can I have related with wildlife conservation or environmental with a ba history degree?  So a quick background on me, Im 22F (Mexican) and since I was a little girl I always loved nature and animals. So when I was in middle school I decided to be a veterinarian, then in highschool I continue with the idea of being a veterinarian, but in my city's university and community college theres no major of that so I decided to get an associate in science in my community college and then transfer to a university in a nearby city. And I'm going to be honest I only took two biology classes+labs and two classes of chem+lab and the rest was the "Core" classes for the community college and I honestly enjoyed more on learning history, government, political science then biol. I verily passed my biol and chem classes compared to my other hist,gov classes where I always got A+. I graduated with a associate degree in "science" in 2024. Then in fall 2025 I transferred to another university where I took veterinarian tech intro and medical terminology of vet tech classes and three history classes, I ended up not passing my vet tech classes bc my professors were racist towards me and even though I had a 97 in both classes they ended up giving me an F because "I didn't went to a needed lab" even though i was never told or got an email about it. But my three history classes I enjoyed them completely and ended up getting A+. On the spring semester I changed my major from vet tech to biology and got elementary microbiology, and two chem classes+lab and a digital painting (Im and artists) and history class. I hated my chem classes and microbiology classes, I felt like I was too dumb compared to my art and history class that I enjoyed and got a A+. So I just ended up moving back to my home city with my parents and planning on going to my city university in fall2027 for a ba history degree. Then I'm planning on going back to my community college and getting another associate degree in science with actual science/biology/ecology /zoology classes. (My community college biology classes are way easier than in a university and cheaper) And between all that Im planning on volunteering in a wildlife Sanctuary and animal shelter to have "experience". I just really want to work with animals and/or nature, maybe not directly but I just want to help on something and not feel useless while I live in this planet. Any suggestions or advice please.  

I am currently working my way towards a bachelors in Environmental Science and am fortunate enough to have a position in environmental education to supplement my income while I get it done. I absolutely adore my job and would be a-okay pursuing environmental education as a career if the opportunity presents itself. But I don’t want to limit my options and I’m eager to get some experience in other adjacent fields. I’ve already done some shifts with our local natural resources department, as well as some maintenance work, and I’m keen to tag along for some prescribed burns. I’m also signing myself up for some stormwater related trainings.

Any advice on how to continue to get myself some experience? Or suggestions of where I should be trying to get experience and grow my skill set? I am making this change as a working adult and I worry that once I get my degree potential employers may see a 30-something applicant with few years of part-time educational work as maybe a bit too broad or otherwise not bringing the right set of skills for other jobs.

Hello, originally I wanted to pursue environmental science as my major, but after taking a peek at Reddit, I'm beginning to understand that this is not, in fact, the move if I want to actually make money and live a somewhat happy life. I still really would like to pursue a career somewhere in the environmental field; however, now I feel lost and kind of scared. I knew that job prospects for environmental work were not the greatest, but I didn't realize just how bad it was. I'm currently a junior in high school, and I still have some time before I have to figure out what majors I want to apply for. I've heard environmental engineering is better than an environmental science degree, but again, I'm unsure. I'm worried because next year I'm taking AP Bio, and I haven't taken a single physics class throughout my time in high school, as I originally presumed I wasn't going to pursue a major that heavily incorporates physics. Does anybody have any recommendations or suggestions? I'm at a loss here, and I'm a little terrified. I want to pursue something related to environmental science, but I don't want to be dead broke and have no job

Hi!

I just graduated highschool and I am planning on going to major in Computer Science and a minor in environmental science.

Although computer science is my major, I would really like to get into environmental consulting as I really do care about the environment.

I’ve done debate and speech as a whole for the entirety of my highschool career and I plan on continuing through out college.

I also plan on joining other speech activities like case competition and mock consulting activities.

Do you think that I would be able to get a job in environmental consulting with a minor in environmental science?

This is my main concern considering that I really do enjoy speech based activities.

Thanks so much!!

Is it required to go to college to get a job in the environmental sciences field? Many people are saying that college will make you fall in debt and has zero value. There is a huge unemployment rate and people with dual grad degrees from ivy's as well have been unemployed for years. There are other ways like certifications, internships and online courses etc. Let me hear some genuine opinions on this.

I’ve been applying to jobs for 9ish months now and really am struggling to get past the interview stage of job applications. I’m applying for jobs in natural resource management/land conservation mostly

I can get an offer to interview for a lot of the jobs I apply for, so I don’t think it’s my resume. I have 4-5 years of experience plus a bachelor’s degree. And I’ve gotten good feedback on my resume and cover letters, so thats not really the issue I don’t think. But whenever I get to the interview stage, I can never make it past the final round

I have a lot of social anxiety and am autistic, so I really don’t think that helps with the social aspect of job interviews. But honestly I don’t understand what I’m doing wrong. I used to get jobs a few years ago with no problem. It’s super frustrating now to have such little success in the interview stage. Does anyone have any tips or general advice on how to approach interviews these days?

Senior year was supposed to feel exciting but every family dinner has turned into a job search status update and the pressure is making the whole process feel heavier than it probably needs to be. I have been connecting with alumni and professionals in environmental consulting on LinkedIn but the reply rate is low enough that I genuinely cannot tell if I am messaging the wrong people, writing bad messages, or just sending too few to get any statistical signal. My roommate who graduated last year said consistency was the answer but I cannot figure out what consistency looks like when classes still eat most of the day. What strategies have actually worked for you when building a professional network completely from scratch with no industry experience yet? And I keep reading about using a linkedin automation tool to scale the process but I have no idea whether that is appropriate for a student or whether linkedin automation at that level just gets accounts flagged before they even get started.

Hlo!! I am a fellow 11th grader. Any fresh graduates from the environment sector. How is the work? Is it meaningful? Is it high-paying? Would love to know the colleges you're from as well.

I’m 31 years old from Southwestern Pennsylvania and when I graduated high school I went to college to pursue a degree in business management. Long story short I had got into trouble my 2nd semester of my 2nd year of college and received a felony conviction and could no longer stay enrolled because I had lost my financial aid due to my conviction. I then found a job as a contractor’s helper afterwards that I kept for about 3 years, and then I got lucky and was given a position as an independent contractor for a local flooring company in my area. It was a total leap of faith because I had little to no experience in laying floors on my own but it felt like an opportunity that could give me the career I’ve been looking for and I couldn’t pass it up. After one year I had received two service calls for my work and was then let go. Since then I have been doing gig work just to get by but I have been struggling since to find my foot back into the door even if I had to go back to being a helper. I have applied to a couple apprenticeship programs that offer paid on the job training but I have had no success. I would love to go to a Trade School but I do not have the finances to do that. It’s been rough on my mental health the last couple of years and it almost has me feeling as if it’s too late for me and I have already exhausted all of my opportunities and also makes me question my worth as a man. I hope this post reaches someone that was facing similar challenges and was able to overcome them, but either way does anyone have any suggestions for me?

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Hello. This is typed out on my phone.

I'm starting out with I've been doing therapy and I've realized that I've lived my life doing as I was told. I wanted to be a marine biologist, but my highschool councillor told me to be realistic with my life choices because my dyslexia has been a sever issue with math. I was really good at the flute and thought maybe I should go to school for that and my father said I would have to live in his house forever because the pay is abysmal.

I am graduating this November with my BS in Environmental policy and management. I want to be a scientist. I don't know what scientist I want to be because I'm figuring out what \*I\* want.

From my understanding I'd have to start over at the bachelor's level.

I'm not sure if I need advice or encouragement. Thank you.

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I heard about biomimicry from my friend, and I was fascinated as it protects the environment while not disturbing nature's own dynamic. Can anyone teach me more about biomimicry? Are there any majors for bachelor's anywhere (i am a student passionate about the environment)? Is there a high salary scope? Any career paths in this field?

Hey! I am a 11th grader. I heard that becoming an Earth Systems Architect is the best occupation in environmental sciences. How is the job like in every aspect job security, flexibility everything.How do u become one? Is it high-paying? Is it a good career choice to make sure you won't be poor along the way? Any Earth Systems Architects here? Are there any other good career choices that would result in high pay, job satisfaction as well as flexibility between work and life or remote work?Would love to hear your opinions. I chose PCMB

I'm starting an environmental science master's program this fall and I hope to get a government job in the future (assuming the funding cuts die down in the next few years). My university offers a dual program to obtain a master's in environmental science and and MPA. I was wondering how useful an MPA would be.

Long story short, I am looking to transition careers. I have a Chemistry BS from 2017, and directly went into a graduate program in healthcare. It was not the right choice for me and heavily influenced by familial expectations, and I'm looking to make a change within the next few years.

I have a broad range of interests, which is maybe a blessing and a curse. Environmental jobs are not the only ones I'm considering, but environment/ecology/agriculture/historical preservation hold some of the most important issues and values to me. I am trying to see where to start as someone who is going to need re-education. I would love to hear suggestions about jobs that I might look into more thoroughly.

Some of my skills/attributes:

1. I am a good student and math/science do not intimidate me. I am willing to go back to school but if I could avoid going back for another gazillion years I'd love that.

2. I have excellent communication and writing skills, as well as being comfortable speaking in public.

3. I am good with stressful situations, but I appreciate work life balance.

4. I plan to be in the West/Southwest US, and am particularly eager to help these ecosystems but I also would like skills that are useful throughout the country and aren't too region specific so if I moved my job would be relevant.

5. I'm ok with being outside, the more the better probably. I'm strong, and I have excellent manual dexterity.

6. I am creative and artistic, and I have enough manual dexterity to also incorporate that into my work if applicable. I like hands on things. Literally.

7. I am a good team player but also good being by myself.

I really appreciate any programs/careers that you guys can think of. I'm just in my research phase of things and any pointers are extremely helpful for me.