New Job Search Strategy - August 2026

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Start by reading your A2 Achieve Career Assessment carefully. As you read, pay attention to the career paths that feel exciting, realistic, or worth exploring.

Your assessment is designed to help you think beyond one narrow job title. We are looking at several possible directions, including:

• Environmental engineering / EIT roles
• Energy, sustainability, and ESG roles
• Environmental planning or compliance roles
• Client-facing consulting and project coordination roles
• Higher education, leadership development, or student-facing roles
• Future entrepreneurial possibilities

As you read, highlight or make notes on anything that feels especially true, interesting, or surprising.

Your goal: Begin identifying which career lanes feel most aligned with your strengths, energy, and long-term goals.

The job search can feel discouraging when the days do not have structure. The Daily Design Worksheet is meant to help you create small, manageable goals for each day.

Each weekday, choose three simple milestones. These do not need to be huge. They just need to keep you moving.

Examples:

• Apply to one job
• Research one company
• Add one job link to the shared Google Doc
• Read or listen to 10 minutes of a leadership or career book
• Update one section of your LinkedIn
• Message one professional contact
• Review one job description and highlight keywords
• Spend 20 minutes working on your resume questions

The goal is not to fill your whole day with job searching. The goal is to create rhythm, confidence, and progress.

Your goal: Create a weekday and weekend rhythm that keeps you motivated while you are between roles.

When we talked, you naturally described your future by picturing where you were living and what your independence looked like. That is important.

For you, career goals are connected to life goals. Moving out of your parents’ house, living in your own apartment, choosing a city, building independence, and creating a life that feels like your own are all part of the bigger picture.

Use the Future Vision Worksheet to think through:

• Where you want to be in one year
• Where you want to be in three years
• Where you want to be in five years
• Where you want to be in ten years

Think about your home, your city, your work, your confidence, your relationships, your finances, and your independence.

Your goal: Create a clearer picture of the life you are working toward, not just the job you are applying for.

Next, we need to strengthen your working resume. Your current resume already has a strong foundation, but we need to fill in a few gaps so we can make it more specific, more strategic, and more competitive.

Please review the resume gap questions and answer what you can. Bullet points are completely fine. You do not have to write perfect sentences.

Focus especially on:

• FE / EIT status or timeline
• Alabama Energy Transformation Initiative details
• Senior capstone project details
• AOII consulting metrics and accomplishments
• Clemson chartering project details
• Leadership experience at The University of Alabama
• Comfort level with field work
• Cities or regions where you would consider relocating
• Which career paths feel most interesting right now

If you are unsure about something, write “not sure.” If something does not apply, write “N/A.” Do not let one unanswered question stop you from completing the rest.

Your goal: Help me build a stronger resume that shows both your technical foundation and your leadership/consulting strengths.

As you search, add job links to our shared Google Doc. These do not have to be perfect matches. In fact, at this stage, it is helpful to collect a variety of roles so we can compare them.

Add jobs that interest you, even if you are not sure whether you are qualified.

Look for roles in these categories:

• Entry-Level Environmental Engineer
• Environmental Engineer I
• Environmental Analyst
• Environmental Planning Analyst
• Sustainability Analyst
• Energy Analyst
• ESG Coordinator
• Environmental Compliance Associate
• Project Coordinator
• Associate Consultant
• Leadership Development Coordinator
• Student Success or Higher Education roles
• Program Coordinator roles
• Client Success or training-related roles

For each job link, add a quick note about why it caught your attention.

Examples:

• “I like the sustainability focus.”
• “This company seems like a good culture fit.”
• “This job seems too technical, but I like the industry.”
• “I like the client-facing part.”
• “This seems like a good city.”
• “I’m not sure if I qualify, but I want to discuss it.”

Your goal: Build a shared list of possible opportunities so we can identify patterns and decide which roles deserve a targeted resume.

First, we are going to clarify what kind of role actually fits you. We are not just asking, “What jobs can I get?” We are asking, “What kind of work will help me grow, feel motivated, and build the life I’m picturing?”

Next, we will use your answers to strengthen your working resume. From there, we can create more targeted versions depending on the job.

You may eventually need more than one version, such as:

• Environmental Engineering / EIT resume
• Sustainability / Energy / Environmental Planning resume
• Consulting / Project Coordination resume

Then we will review the links you add to the Google Doc. We will look for patterns in the jobs that interest you, the qualifications employers want, and the keywords we need to include in your resume.

Once we identify strong-fit roles, we will tailor your resume and cover letter instead of sending the same generic version everywhere.

We will also look for small ways to build visibility, especially on LinkedIn. This may include posting occasionally, commenting thoughtfully, connecting with people in your target industries, and reaching out to alumni or professionals in cities that interest you.