If your looking for a top job in the organic industry or a job related to the organic or sustainable industry, then you don't have as many job board choices as people looking for other jobs. Organic careers are on the move upwards, but job boards are still few and far between.
That said, it's not impossible to locate a decent job board. Following are some of the better places to look for an organic job.
1. USA Jobs
National Organic Program (NOP) jobs and other related USDA organic jobs are posted in three key places.
First, for a quick job search, check out the NOP homepage. If there's an available job, it'll be listed on your right, under General Information. You can also hear about open jobs by signing up for to receive selected updates from the USDA National Organic Program via their Organic Insiders email list - then open jobs will hit your email inbox quickly.
Organic and other related sustainable jobs are also posted at USA Jobs, the official jobsite for the US Federal Government. This job board is ultra easy to navigate and there are even simple tutorials (pdf) to get you started. USA Jobs features thousands of available federal jobs at any given moment, not just in the organic sector, but jobs related to other sustainable initiatives as well, such as jobs with the Clean Water Act and the National Park Service Organic Act.
Search tools at USA Jobs are plentiful. You can search by keyword, agency, location, job title and much more. Keep in mind that federal agencies may only employ United States citizens and nationals (residents of American Samoa and Swains Island) so if you're arriving in the USA soon or just got here, finding a job here may be difficult. However, it's not hopeless, because Federal agencies may also request OPM approval to appoint a non-citizen, if no qualified U.S. citizens are available. Agencies may also hire a non-citizen if permitted via the annual Appropriations Act and the immigration law and the agency’s specific laws and internal policies.
2. Green Jobs Network
Green Jobs Network connects individuals seeking sustainable jobs with available opportunities and resources that extend far beyond a basic job board, although there's one of those as well. The Green Jobs Network green job board allows you to search via key word and they also offer featured job listings. You can also simply browse jobs via city or type.
While this job board isn't chock full of "organic" job listings, they do post jobs in the industry, but you'll have to search a bit to find them. The best part about this network are all the other great features offered by Green Jobs Network, such as a green job e-mail list, blog on green collar jobs, listings of green career books, green job fairs, and jobs at environmental non-profits.
3. AgCareers
AgCareers is not primarily an organic agriculture job board, however, they offer an organic job search via their advanced search options and you will often see organic agriculture jobs, or related sustainable agriculture job choices posted here.
AgCareers allows you to search with their easy to use clickable map, you can look though featured jobs or move on to their advanced search.
4. BlueSkySearch
BlueSkySearch is an executive recruiting and consulting firm that specializes in the Produce Industry, Agriculture and the Food Industry. This site offers an online job center, much like a job board with all sorts of organic-minded jobs in the food industry.
Some job examples include buyers for organic companies, ranch managers, farm work and management, processing and handling jobs and much more. While not entirely organic, this site, and their jobs, are heavily slanted in that direction.
5. TreeHugger Job Boards
The TreeHugger Job Boards tend to offer less organic jobs and more sustainable jobs, but when looking for work this is still a great place to check. Occasionally an organic specific job will pop up, plus they seem to offer many internships and other jobs in related fields that could lead to an organic career.
6. Business Exchange
Business Exchange is a unique website offering users the ability to create business topics, search content from the entire Web and connect with other like-minded business users. They also maintain a long listing of organic food industry jobs. Not all their jobs hit the organic jackpot, but many are good and you'll have a lot to browse here as it's updated fairly regularly.
7. Green Dream Jobs
Green Dream Jobs is one of the leading green job service on the Web. They work with hundreds of top green employers including those involved in renewable energy jobs (solar, wind, geothermal and other clean energy jobs), green building, organic jobs, sustainable non-profit jobs, and government agencies.
The staff at Green Dream Jobs notes that they screens every job, which seems true, because I rarely run into a bunk listing here and there are usually some great organic-minded jobs available.
8. PickYourOwn
If you're looking for seasonal work on an organic farm or you're a student who wants to test the waters in the organic industry, the PickYourOwn job resource boards can help. The site doesn't list actual jobs, but can help direct you to seasonal and other short-term farm work. These also aren't long-term career offerings, but PickYourOwn does offer some great resources related to agricultural jobs available to working travelers, students or PT workers.
