The top skills sustainability consultants need today

The opinions expressed here by Trellis expert contributors are their own, not those of Trellis.

Despite headwinds facing ESG, companies across the world are racing to meet ever-evolving sustainability standards, driving the demand for sustainability consultants. In fact, the ESG consulting and training market is expected to reach $36 billion annually in the coming years. 

This demand means consultant candidates need to have specialized technical skills, the ability to draw upon many different disciplines – science, business, supply chains, and economics — and superior soft skills like relationship-building and client management. 

Over the past 25 years of serving as Sustainserv’s founder and managing partner, I have developed a set of questions to ask candidates during the interview process that are key to gaining insights into what makes not just a good consultant, but a good sustainability consultant. The following questions are essential to gauge a candidate’s skill set and how these skills translate in real-life, client scenarios.

Share an example of a time when what a client expected wasn’t entirely clear or where the state of knowledge on a topic was changing quickly. How did you respond? 

Hearing how candidates answer this question is very telling as it indicates how well a person responds to uncertainty while also demonstrating their ability to acquire and integrate knowledge rapidly. For example, we regularly face questions about the evolving regulatory landscape and how that may impact a client. In this case, I first would expect candidates to demonstrate knowledge on the latest developments. I then want them to articulate, based on some contextual information we would’ve provided to them ahead of time, what different potential outcomes those developments may mean for a given client. What’s key is to clearly communicate an action plan with your client on how you will get them the results they’re looking for, even if the immediate answer is unknown.

If you could solve one problem in corporate sustainability, what would it be and how would you solve it? 

How a candidate thinks about and articulates the challenges facing the industry can illuminate a candidate’s problem-solving abilities. Our consultants are immersed every day in the nitty gritty details of greenhouse gas inventories, science-based targets for climate or nature, double materiality, or reporting frameworks, just to name a few. 

By exploring what a potential consultant thinks are “the big problems” in corporate sustainability, we can get insight into: a) what they think those problems are and b) how they formulate a response to them. Do they think big, or are they honed in on specific details? Are they able to connect the dots and articulate how the answers to bigger questions can bring value to their clients and to our firm? Does their wiring allow them to zoom in and out, keeping both the details and the higher-level context in sight?  

How do you use AI in your current life and work? How might you use it as a sustainability consultant?

The potential that AI presents to the sustainability consultancy sector is hard to overestimate, as it provides a level of efficiency, breadth and speed that we haven’t had at our disposal previously. 

I look for candidates who recognize that potential and are able to consider how this toolset can play a role in our work. In answering this question, I’m looking for people who can think pragmatically about how our daily tasks can be streamlined and made more efficient by AI while also recognizing the larger opportunities it presents.

For example, how can AI help find the long-sought-after connection between financial performance and sustainability performance or the empirical tradeoffs that may result from optimizing one aspect of sustainability performance at the expense of others? A consultant who can appreciate this perspective will be poised for success in this new paradigm of tech-enabled consulting work.

To meet current client demands, candidates need to be able to effectively navigate unpredictable situations, problem solve to achieve short- and long-term goals and be up to speed with how AI can be used effectively in the ESG space. A stand-out candidate embodies more than what’s on a resume and will be able to show their confidence in executing these skills that are essential for the future of the industry.