A Discussion on the Career Development of Environmental Professionals

Recently, as the Environmental Protection Water Circle has been conducting its 2020 salary survey, inquiries in the official account’s backend have surged. Many members of the community have been asking about job roles and compensation for professionals in the environmental protection sector.

 

Among them, a friend named @LiangZhan posed the following question:

 

I’ve been working in environmental protection for five years, managing the operations and maintenance of a wastewater treatment plant in Wuhu, Anhui. My current monthly salary is 3,650 yuan—is that normal?

 

I’m sure a monthly salary of 3,650 yuan over five years would shock quite a few gamers—after all, even working as a restaurant server or a delivery rider these days doesn’t pay that little.

 

But the situation of that online commenter above may seem absurd, yet it’s actually quite common throughout the environmental protection industry.

 

You may not have encountered such an extreme case yourself, but I’m sure you know someone who’s been working for five years yet still earns only 5,000 to 6,000 yuan a month.

 

Most of these individuals hold at least an associate’s degree, and many even have bachelor’s degrees; of course, I’ve also encountered people with graduate degrees who find themselves in the same situation.

 

In fact, whether it’s a monthly salary of 3,650 yuan over five years or one of five to six thousand yuan per month over the same period, such earnings clearly don’t match five years of work experience.

 

This isn’t even enough to sustain a relatively decent standard of living, let alone afford a car or a home.

 

Such contradictions leave us questioning our work and our very place in life.

 

Seeing this, you might be wondering if an ad is about to follow…

 

If that’s what you’re thinking, you might be disappointed… There are no ads today. (However, this doesn’t mean there won’t be any in the future either.) 。

 

So, take a sip of water to calm your nerves, and keep reading.

 

Today, we’ll discuss the factors that give rise to the situations we’ve just outlined and explore how we might rethink and address the current challenges in our careers.

 

If today’s content doesn’t sit well with you, there’s no need to try to attack my views, because on this issue, I have no intention of engaging in any kind of discussion with anyone.

 

If you have your own ideas, feel free to leave a comment— I’ll curate them for other aquarists to reference.

 

Let’s begin.

 

Let me first outline my thought framework:

 

1. Know What (Knowing what one is doing)

2.Know How (Knowing how to do it is roughly correct.)

3.Know Why (Knowing why this needs to be done)

 

 

01

Know what?

 

First, we need to clarify what exactly we are doing.

 

Many people might wonder: Do I really not even know what I’m doing?

 

Don’t rush—doing environmental work requires patience. Keep reading…

 

To understand what you’re doing, you first need to identify the broader market or industry you’re operating in. For those of us in the environmental protection sector, that overarching arena is the environmental industry.

 

So what exactly is the current landscape of the environmental protection industry?

 

In summary, there are three main characteristics:

 

1. The industry’s development hinges entirely on policy, but whether companies benefit depends on implementation.

 

Whether the vast majority of environmental protection companies can benefit from increasingly stringent policies hinges on whether local authorities implement these policies in an open, transparent, and effective manner.

 

(You know, it’s best not to go into too much detail—let’s leave it at that for now.)

 

2. Technological progress has virtually come to a standstill, but existing resources should last for several more years.

 

Solving China’s environmental challenges cannot be achieved through the environmental sector acting in isolation; what lies ahead is a test of cross-sectoral integration and collaboration.

 

In particular, the integration of process engineering with manufacturing‑equipment capabilities is far more challenging than the former, because those who master the processes often fall into blind arrogance, believing they can effortlessly handle the latter.

 

Backward integration is a force that cannot be ignored—namely, integrating equipment manufacturing with process engineering—and there are already successful examples of this in the industry.

 

No matter how we proceed, we must understand that, The integration of process expertise and manufacturing capabilities will be the core competitive advantage of technology-driven environmental protection enterprises over the next decade. It is also the scythe that has ventured overseas to capture the environmental‑protection markets in Southeast Asia and South America.

 

3. The future holds great potential, but it has little to do with the vast majority of environmental protection companies.

 

Why is there so much room for the future?

 

Because this is China, there are two key characteristics: a large population and the world’s largest manufacturing sector.

 

In other words, we possess the objective reality of continuously generating large quantities of pollutants.

 

This also means that China’s domestic environmental protection market could account for half of the global market. (Here, “the future” refers to what is yet to come, not the present.) Given that the environmental protection markets in developed countries such as Europe and the United States have already entered a mature phase, China’s share of the global environmental protection market is bound to grow even larger.

 

As for why it’s said to have nothing to do with the vast majority of environmental protection companies?

 

Just take a look at how many seasoned engineers your company’s R&D department has, and you’ll know the answer. But if you’re thinking, “We don’t need to do R&D ourselves—we’ll just integrate external solutions,” then you’d better ask yourself whether you’re dreaming.

 

If you realize you’re not dreaming, step on a digital scale and see how much you weigh—do you measure up to integrating others? (Who knows—maybe that’ll be enough...) 。

 

Predict a green‑tech company’s present by focusing on technology and operations, and forecast its future by emphasizing R&D. (Except for environmental protection projects of central state-owned enterprises—they care about scale.) 。

 

Once you’ve clarified the characteristics of your industry, you’ll also gain a clear understanding of your company’s future.

 

 

02

Know how?

 

Second, we need to understand the career‑advancement dynamics within the environmental protection sector.

 

Next, we’ll examine our specific roles and responsibilities within this track.

 

Here, I don’t intend to go into the specifics of each job category. Instead, based on my experience, I’d like to share with you which types of positions hold long-term promise.

 

1. It is a job that demands far more mental effort than physical exertion.

 

For the vast majority of people, their potential lies in their minds rather than their limbs; therefore, cultivating one’s intellect yields far greater returns than honing physical strength.

 

So, looking for a job at the “human resources market” rather than the “labor market” makes a world of difference.

 

2. Engage in work that allows you to continuously accumulate knowledge.

 

This means that after three years of work, you’ll have built a three-year personal competitive moat. If you can start on the job and deliver results within three weeks of training, don’t stick around—either keep going or make switching jobs a priority as soon as possible. (If you have aspirations for wealth) 。

 

In technical terms, this is called the compounding effect. If you never engage in activities that leverage compounding throughout your life, barring unforeseen circumstances, you will likely never achieve financial freedom. (Home demolition and lottery winnings are a separate matter.) 。

 

3. Work in a role that involves interacting with people.

 

The first law of making money: the closer you are to your customers, the closer the money will be.

 

If your current job doesn’t yet offer opportunities to interact with people, try starting by chatting more with your supervisor—after all, they’re human too. The more you talk, the more unexpected benefits you may see. Of course, I’d even recommend reaching out to your clients.

 

It’s not that dealing with your boss necessarily involves anything shady; in the end, it’s always the client who pays, not the boss.

 

In addition to these three points, it’s also crucial to master and become proficient in the office suite—Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

 

The most important function of office software is to make your accumulated knowledge both recordable and replicable, and to enable your influence to be disseminated.

 

In light of the above, assess your current work and identify areas where you can improve and strengthen.

 

 

03

Know why?

 

Third, if you believe you have a greater sense of retribution, you should keep asking yourself: Why am I doing environmental protection?

 

The two points discussed above—knowing what and knowing how—are external factors that can influence, even critically so, an individual’s development, though they do not determine it.

 

If you studied politics in high school, you surely know that, in the development of any phenomenon, internal factors are decisive—and knowing why means identifying your own internal drivers.

 

If you can’t answer the question, “Why do I care about environmental protection?”, don’t be too hard on yourself—this isn’t an isolated case.

 

So, I’ve prepared three sample answers to help everyone get their thoughts organized:

 

1. I am interested in environmental protection work;

2. I am skilled at working in environmental protection-related fields;

3. Society needs people who work in environmental protection;

 

Unless you can identify at least two of the three answers above as applying to your own situation, you won’t last long in this job.

 

Furthermore, we need to find at least one option—either “1” or “2”—that aligns with our own preferences.

 

You might say, “There probably isn’t anyone who’s really interested in environmental work…”

 

That’s not quite right—actually, there are quite a few people who are genuinely interested in environmental protection. Undoubtedly, this group is fortunate, because passion is always the best teacher.

 

So you might say, “I’m really not interested in environmental work—does that mean I shouldn’t do it?”

 

That’s not entirely true—what matters most is whether you can do “2” well, because even “2” plus “3” will keep your dopamine levels high, helping you stay motivated to keep working on whatever’s at hand and see it through to completion.

 

At this point, some may still say: “I’m neither interested in nor good at environmental protection—does that mean I shouldn’t do it?”

 

You could put it that way.

 

 

(End of text)

 

 

Oh, right—today we agreed there’d be no ads, so there won’t be any.

 

But the veteran would like to ask fellow gamers for a favor—one that would also benefit all environmentalists.

 

The 2020 compensation report for the environmental protection industry is about to be released!

 

All water enthusiasts who participate through the Eco‑Friendly Aquatic Circle All participants will receive an authentic and detailed job‑and‑salary analysis report, exclusively published by Environmental Water Circle.

 

I believe this will provide invaluable guidance for the career development of every professional in the environmental field.