A career you can believe in

By JD on May 9 2008 at 2:06 PM

There is a new book out called "Making a Living While Making a Difference: The Expanded Guide to Creating Careers with a Conscience" written by Melissa Everett. It discusses a shift in what people are looking for much more so these days in their careers and in the companies they work for with regards to personal, environmental and social issues.

Is it possible to make a difference in the world and also squeak out a decent living? Does the company you work for contribute to our environmental problem or are they helping find a solution? This book hopes to help point you down the right path of business success coupled with environmentalism and social good. The days of having to be poor in order to rise the executive ranks because it was either career or being green and socially aware may finally be over.

I currently work for what I believe to be one of the greenest companies on the planet. You might not hear in the news or read in the papers or trade magazines about my company being exceptionally green because it's building are not all made of reclaimed lumber, recycled rubber tires or aluminum cans and we don't own a small country sized piece of land covered in windmills to run all of our servers. So how could we possibly be the greenest company ever?? Think about it.....what is the first thing that pops into your head when you think eBay? Buying or selling old/weird stuff. eBay has epitomized "one's man's junk is another man's treasure" and created what could easily be seen as the worlds largest public recycling program. Why throw something out when you can essentially recycle it and make money doing it?

I strongly believe in what the company for which I work is based upon. In addition to what I mentioned above, we have a growing worldwide Green Team and many different internal programs that are charity, environmental and social conscious related. I know I have a career at a company holding many of the same values as I and this is very important to me as I get older and as my professional life grows. In all honesty, who knows if I will be at eBay until I retire; but if I am not, I know that salary and benefits will not be the only thing I look for in choosing where I go next. Being green and being successful may go hand in hand in this new age of ours.

Do something and do it now!
JD

Comments

Gee!
I think you need to pay attention to what the higher-ups think if you expect to climb the corporate ladder to success on eBay. Your CEO JD does not like the flea market atmosphere. Usher thinks the small sellers are noise. Lorrie is busy making deals with large sellers of brand new imported junk to fill gaps in inventory so eBay can be the online WalMart.

The small seller of recycled reused items is being 'disadvantaged in search', denied cheap listing days, excluded from seller protections, because they aren't PowerSellers and therefore do not have a 'track record' according to Brian Burke. They are paying more in listing fees and FVF for less exposure than the PS get even though they meet & exceed all qualifications except volume. Volume is important because it puts more money in eBay's coffers. As for the small seller who bought eBay stock, much good they get from it, eBay has NEVER paid stockholders a dividend. Not enough left after taking care of Meg and Bill and ?????

I hope it is fun, and I hope they pay you well son, because there are a lot of single Moms and old folk out there struggling to survive while your bosses are exercising their stock options, justifying their $10M paychecks and destroying years of work and effort. Still feel green?

I do, thank you. I still feel very green.
I am sorry you feel burned by eBay, I truly am.
Parts of eBay are broken and it need to be fixed, yes; but I also know that eBay offered a unique opportunity to millions of "single moms and old folk" that they may have never had otherwise.
I am actually encouraged by the passion and the fire in your comments, it shows that you still care.

Keep fighting the good fight Henrietta, if only everyone had that fire inside.

I really enjoyed your blog. It is so wonderful to hear people say nice things about the company they work for. It is a really awesoem place to work. All the friends I have who work for Ebay say wonderful things about the company. It is also refreshing to hear how Ebay values its employees. I love how Ebay offers multiple ways for people to give back to their communities (Giving Works).

I love how easy it is to excercise our opinions on this website.