SFG: Right, right, and good -- again, good networking. Should you go looking for a job when you’re at these events or should you –

PB: It doesn’t hurt, but I think -- and, you know, you could be lucky that occasionally have job fairs and jobs advertised at them and if you attend even -- like there’s a solar power conference every year, which is the biggest in the U.S. It varies from -- it’s been in the west coast most recently, but it has been on the east coast as well. I think last one was at San Diego last year, last fall.

But they often have jobs advertised as well and so you know when they get a chance to go around and visit all the booths and talk to all the companies and the people running those companies, but yet just to see what jobs they’ve got advertised.

You know, so and the more they see you, the more you give them your card and shake their hand, and the nice thing about -- I mean the solar power conference is kind of not the best forum -- at least I don’t think it is because there are just so many people there.

And the sales guys are focused on selling their wares, not listening to what you’re trying to sell yourself. But they -- the local association has all kinds of things, you know, from -- and it’s much less formal, much less traded, so less opportunity to network, but much better opportunity for good networking. So a mix of the two I think is what you want to do.

The people that you meet at the local association, you may meet at solar power and reinforce it. They see your interest and your determination at all levels. And so the same goes for any other industry. You find out how you can build that network without being in it because we all have these kind of associations one way or another. Some have them locally like we do in California and some of them you may have to travel a little bit, but it makes it more difficult, but it’s not impossible. And that’s certainly how I would start if I were trying to do it.

SFG: What about the companies that are not directly a part of the solar energy industry, but maybe have someone inhouse who’s responsible for bringing solar to their facilities? Say it’s a manufacturing company that wants to increase its green status?

PB: Well, they have two ways of doing it and I tend to only see the ones who do it the second way. One is they can promote from within. So they’ll find somebody within with the right kind of skill set and they can appoint him to do that kind of job or they recruit from outside. If they recruit from outside, then they tend to go, I believe, for people who are already experts.

Because that’s what they want. They've probably got a generalist inside. They want an expert for the particular application and so that doesn’t really help people trying to break into the industry, I don’t think.

SFG: Okay, okay. So any last advice to our readers who maybe want to move themselves into a greener position, a greener company, but perhaps don’t have quite the criteria or the credentials that a graduate from a solar energy degree might have?

PB: Well, it’s kind of -- that’s a catch all. I go back to say focus on something specific, on a specific industry. Find out as much about it as you can and you can do that without going back to college. Find out what the opportunities are for training. Identify where you best fit because a solar company, as I said, employs the same kind of people that you get in any other company.

So accountants are employed there and you don’t need specific skills to be an accountant, but what you probably want to do is identify the companies in your area, so just do your research, you know, Google.

SFG: That’s a good point. You don’t have to be a scientist to work at one of these companies.

PB: Absolutely not. I mean one of the jobs that we've got advertised is clerical, an administrative assistant. They need all of the same people. They just won’t relocate all of them and so you’ve gotta find the ones that are local.

SFG: All right. Well, this has been very helpful, Peter, and I appreciate your time today.

PB: Thanks.