In addition, Ellis says, Bright Green Talent is about three months into a pilot program that is designed as bridge between job hunters seeking a green role, or work at a green firm, and companies with temporary green jobs to fill.

The program builds on the concept of services that pair independent contractors with businesses that have temporary jobs or projects that need to be staffed.

In the Bright Green Talent model, the jobseekers-cum-contractors obtain new or further green experience and the companies get immediate attention for their urgent green projects. Eligible candidates would pay a fee of $200 to cover administration costs for participating in the program, which is expected to celebrate its formal launch in mid-April, Ellis says.

Updates on the firm's projects and advice for jobseekers are available on its Bright Green Blog.

Staying Grounded in Common Sense While Pursuing Green Jobs

With all the hope pinned on an emerging green economy, it's easy to get swept up in the excitement over green jobs. Projections of robust growth based on substantial investments include a proposal advanced by the Apollo Alliance's New Apollo Program, which calls for an investment of $500 billion over 10 years to create 5 million green-collar jobs in renewable energy, energy efficiency, transit and transportation, and research, development and deployment of cutting-edge clean-energy technologies.

In a recent blog, GreenBiz.com Executive Editor Joel Makower noted that job statistics in the broad new sector could become vulnerable to greenwashing even as positions appear to materialize. "We don't really know how to define a green job, let alone measure when one is created or 'retained,' " he wrote.

Some question the overall impact that green jobs will have on the job supply. In a press conference on March 16, a group of academics conducting research on behalf of the Institute for Energy Research raised concerns about the practical benefits of green jobs. Those concerns included questions about whether estimates of net job creation factored in positions that would be lost from existing, fossil fuel-related industries.

In a guest column on GreenBiz.com, Ellis took up the question of a green jobs mirage posed by Makower's piece. Though acknowledging the number of green jobs is relatively few, Ellis noted the demands for them -- and for what they represent -- are growing. As "individuals are forced to reevaluate their professional priorities or seek new careers as they are let go from those they were following, they are coming in droves to the idea of a 'green job,' " he wrote. "Yet, it's not really a 'green job' they want. They're not seeking definitional clarity or a certification that their job is deep (or bright) green. Instead, they're seeking a new path entirely."

Taking up that thread anew in speaking of jobseekers, Ellis says, "Everybody is wondering what a green job is, we need to get past that and get past that quickly. Don't let the green throw you. Business models may have changed, but it is still business."