Are you unhappy with your current job status? Would you love to launch a career in a field that will help our planet? Searching the Internet for lists of the hottest ‘green' jobs isn't your best approach. "If you want to create a "green" career track or just explore green job opportunities, the smartest way to begin is to focus on who you are and what you bring to the table," advises Barbara Parks, the founder of Green Career Tracks, a Minneapolis-based career coaching and consulting business.

Parks will present a free workshop on exploring career opportunities in sustainable industries and market sectors during the 10th annual Body Mind Life Expo, February 27-28, 2010 at the Minneapolis Convention Center (www.101expos.com). Her workshop is co-sponsored by WomenVenture.

"It's important to realize that no one can hand you a list of "hot" green careers to pursue with guaranteed employment. With green industry training and certification requirements in a state of flux, it's hard to determine the best degree or training program to invest in.

The good news is that the green economy is steadily growing, and new green job titles and business opportunities are emerging every day. It's an exciting time to claim what role you want to play in creating a more sustainable world through your work. It's the best time to position yourself for creating a green career track that's meaningful for you."

Parks will give the Body Mind Life Expo audience her top tips for creating a green career track. Those tips include:

• Empower yourself. "Start by claiming your role in creating a sustainable world and a green economy. Are you excited about organic foods or body care products? Are you most concerned with renewable energy or waste management? Do you have a great idea for a green product or service? Begin with what you're pumped about, then determine what kinds of skills, strengths and experience you bring to the table. Do you have accounting skills? Sales or marketing expertise? You must name and claim your strengths to transfer to the emerging green economy."
• Be creative. "Creating a green career track isn't so much about what positions are available as it is about how well prepared you are, and how you market or position yourself. Many opportunities exist to enter the green job market. I have a client who has volunteered to head an environmental education program knowing that the visibility and experience will open doors to the paid position she wants."
• Learn what's happening around you. "Pay attention to your local economy, and the kinds of green market sectors and industries are growing and being funded. This will give you a heads up on the most viable career track to pursue."
• Spend less time online. "For every hour you put in on the Internet searching for job leads, you need to spend two hours talking to real people, on the phone or out in the community, asking questions and learning about job opportunities, current hiring trends and new green business start-ups."
• Attend events. "Do an Internet search for "sustainable Minneapolis" (or whatever city you are exploring) to learn where eco-minded people are meeting. Those are the people whose brains you need to pick. Share what you know with them. Make it a point to attend any networking event, conference, expo and professional association meeting that addresses the green industry or market sector that interests you."

Over the years, the Body Mind Life Expo has become a trusted clearinghouse for health-related information. Those watching their pennies appreciate the fact that admission always includes free back-to-back seminars on everything from proper exercise techniques, weight management and anti-aging tips, to the latest on the use of therapeutic essential oils and other fact-based ideas for taking control of your physical, emotional and spiritual health.

People also spend quality time exploring local resources including holistic services, environmentally-friendly products, stress-free vacation ideas, workshops and classes, counseling and motivational centers, clinics, acupuncture/bodywork services and more.

Benefiting underserved women and their families touched by breast cancer.
Mid-America Events & Expos, producers of the Body Mind Life Expo, is donating 50 percent of all ticket sales from its 2010 expos to Hope Chest for Breast Cancer, which will also be given a booth at each show.

Visit www.101expos.com to Shop at the Show before you go. Admission is $3 with the half price coupon available at www.101expos.com, and free to kids 17 and under when accompanied by an adult. More information is on the expo hotline: 612-798-7256.

This year's Body Mind Life Expo is made possible in part by 5 Eyewitness News, KSTC Channel 45, Wendie Pett, The Wellness Advisor, Krech Exteriors and The Edge: Soul of the Cities.

Media Note: To schedule an interview with Robin Kocina, contact Media Relations, Inc. at 612-798-7220.

About WomenVenture

WomenVenture is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to helping women gain economic prosperity. WomenVenture has helped more than 90,000 women succeed in business and in life during its three-decade history. WomenVenture fulfills its mission by teaching women skills to find careers with higher wages; navigate job loss and changes; start and grow small businesses and manage their economic resources.

Biography – Barbara Parks

Barbara Parks is the founder of Green Career Tracks, one of the first career coaching services in the U.S. launched in 2004 to promote careers that support environmental, social and economic justice. She specializes in career coaching for people who want to work for a more sustainable future through conscious career choices and work opportunities in the growing green economy.

Barbara has helped thousands of individuals - college graduates, first-time job seekers, dislocated workers, and mid-career changers - gain meaningful work in a changing, challenging marketplace. She is frequently asked to speak at green career conferences, expos, professional associations and community meetings and has been interviewed by TV and radio hosts, book authors and online and print journalists for her perspective on green careers and the growing green economy.

As adjunct faculty member of Minneapolis College of Art and Design's noted Sustainable Design Certificate program, Barbara teaches "Sustainable Career Planning". She is co-author of the "Complete Idiot's Guide to Green Careers".

She has also designed, produced and delivered green careers programming for national conferences such as the Living Green Expo, Northland Bioneers Conference, The Solar Living Institute, DoItGreenMinnesota! and the Alliance for Sustainability.