挺进美国新兴行业，圈外人怎样找大麻业的工作

美国一半以上地区都认定医用大麻合法，目前已有九个州允许使用娱乐性大麻。在这种形势下，大麻企业将创造一批新就业机会。到2020年，全美大麻行业的新增工作岗位料将达到34万个。

考虑转行？认真想一下就会发现，即使想加入历史相对悠久、发展更为成熟的行业，但缺少行业相关经验很容易在招聘过程中被淘汰出局。大麻行业就不同了。美国丹佛市大麻业猎头公司Vangst的创始人兼首席执行官卡尔森·休米斯顿称，该产业发展迅猛，“拥有直接从业经验的人本来也不够多，所以我们不得不招徕其他行业的人。我们别无选择。”

而且，随着大麻行业日益发展壮大，业内所需人才的类型也在变化。贸易组织美国全国大麻行业协会（NCIA）有1500家会员，发言人摩根·福克斯指出：“新增工作之中，直接从事（大麻）种植的占比越来越小。大麻企业正聘用有其他行业背景的人才，比如财务经理、市场营销和品牌专家，还有人力资源专家。”

怎样才能搭上大麻行业崛起的顺风车？以下四种方法可以帮助你找到大麻行业的工作：

1、尝试传统找工作的方法。

可以跟大麻行业的猎头交流一下。业内最有资历的两家猎头是Vangst和旧金山的THC Staffing Group，分别成立于2015年和2014年。别忘了，由于美国已经普遍推行大麻合法化，各类求职平台和招聘广告发布平台也都在公布大麻企业的空缺职位。克里斯汀·霍奇登此前在丹佛地区一家油气公司任人力资源副总裁，去年经Vangst介绍，跳槽到罗拉多州大麻用品店Native Roots Colorado主管人力资源。霍奇登介绍了新公司的招聘情况：“我们的确在求职平台发招聘信息，公司内部也积极鼓励员工推荐人才。我们还聘了一些毛遂自荐的人，他们刚好主动上门询问怎样申请工作，补充了人手。”

2、结交业内人士。

相比其他很多行业，结交一些大麻行业的人士对找工作可能更有帮助。本地和地区性的业内活动迅速增多，用谷歌搜索很容易找到。此外专家建议，如有可能可以报名参加即将召开的四大大麻行业盛会之一，分别是：今年9月和10月先后在洛杉矶和波士顿举行的大麻业世界大会暨商业展（Cannabis World Congress & Business Expo），10月在举行的NICA加州安那罕举办的NCIA加州商业展（NCIA California Business Expo），行业媒体《每日大麻商业》（Marijuana Business Daily）11月在拉斯维加斯举行的展会。抽不开身参会怎么办？克里斯汀·霍奇登说：“如果关注了某些大麻行业公司的官方社交媒体账号，经常能发现一些招聘职位，还有线上活动。也许因为这些企业都比较新，线上活动往往比规模更大、更成熟的企业活跃得多。”

3、事先了解行业和企业。

当然，在参加正式面试以前，求职者应该好好了解行业趋势和主题。在大麻行业更是至关重要。因为该行业在各地仍然受到极为严格的监管。THC Staffing Group的创始人兼首席执行官丹尼尔·舒马赫就举了个例子：“假设你要去一家大麻公司面试广告主管的职位，要熟悉各种相关的法律，了解法律规定，即使是在科罗拉多和加州之类（大麻经营合法）的州，也要了解该怎样宣传大麻，在哪里可以做广告。假如你的广告创意风险太大，挑战监管容忍限度，整个公司可能因此关门大吉。”

是不是有点害怕？

4、灵活多变，带着创业思维。

Vangst的卡尔森·休米斯顿指出，美国各州和联邦政府对大麻企业有广泛的规定和限制，不仅如此，“因为总有一些新措施出台，作为业内人士要有很强的适应性，迅速跟着转向。如果应聘者有在初创公司工作过，经历过公司由小到大扩张，求职时比较占优势。之前在大企业工作的人不习惯迅速变化，往往会被吓到。”

另外要提醒大家，体验过大麻产品不是应聘的必要条件，没试过也不影响。舒马赫称：“有些雇主可能更喜欢聘用（大麻的）消费者，那仅仅是因为他们对此更了解。但不是工作岗位强制条件。”

对一些求职者来说算是好消息吧。（财富中文网）

本文作者安妮·费希尔是职场专家，也是提供职场建议的专栏作家。她在财富开设“解决问题”（Work It Out）专栏，给予读者21世纪的工作与生活指南。

译者：Pessy

审校：夏林

With medical marijuana now legal in well over half of the U.S. and recreational marijuana use allowed in nine states (and counting), cannabis companies are scrambling to fill a rush of new jobs in the industry—an estimated 340,000 of them nationwide by 2020.

Contemplating a career change? Think about this: In older, more established businesses, you may have noticed, a lack of industry-specific experience can land your resume in the circular file pretty quickly. Not so in the marijuana trade, an industry growing so fast that “there just aren’t enough people with direct experience, so we have to bring people in from outside,” says Karson Humiston, founder and CEO of cannabis recruiters Vangst in Denver. “We have no choice.”

Moreover, as the cannabis industry gets bigger, the kinds of talent employers want is changing. “A shrinking percentage of newly created jobs now require you to deal directly with the [marijuana] plant,” notes Morgan Fox, a spokesman for the 1,500-member trade group National Cannabis Industry Association. “Finance managers, marketing and branding experts, HR professionals—cannabis companies are hiring people with the same backgrounds as any other business.”

So how do you get in on all this growth? Here are four ways to get a job in the cannabis industry:

1. Try traditional job search methods.

It’s worth talking to marijuana-industry recruiters. Two that have been around the longest (since 2015 and 2014, respectively) are Vangst and San Francisco-based THC Staffing Group. But bear in mind that, as marijuana legalization spreads, all kinds of job boards and other help-wanted venues now post cannabis companies’ job openings, too. “We do post on job boards, and we have an active employee-referral program,” says Christine Hodgdon, who was vice president of human resources at a Denver-area oil-and-gas company before Vangst tapped her last year for her current role as HR chief at Native Roots Colorado. “We also hire some walk-ins—people who just come into one of our dispensaries and ask how to apply.”

2. Get connected.

Even more than in most other fields, building a network of relationships with cannabis industry insiders helps, and the number of local and regional networking events, easily Googled, is proliferating. Beyond that, experts recommend signing up, if possible, to at least one of four big cannabis conferences, all coming up soon: Cannabis World Congress & Business Expo in Los Angeles in September and in Boston a month later; the NCIA California Business Expo in Anaheim in October; and the Marijuana Business Daily‘s trade show in Las Vegas in November. Can’t get away to attend any of these? “If you follow specific cannabis companies on social media, you’ll often find job postings and networking events popping up,” says Christine Hodgdon. “Maybe because these are all young enterprises, they tend to be much more active online than many bigger, more established businesses.”

3. Do your homework.

Of course, every job hunter should study up on industry trends and topics before meeting with interviewers, but in the cannabis business it’s essential, because the marijuana industry is still extremely heavily regulated everywhere. Just one example of why that matters: “Let’s say you’re an advertising executive interviewing at a cannabis company,” says Danielle Schumacher, founder and chief of THC Staffing Group. “You need to be well-versed in the various laws about how and where cannabis can be advertised, even in states like Colorado and California. Taking too big a creative risk in your ads—what in another kind of company would be just ‘pushing the envelope’—could get your entire company shut down.”

Gulp.

4. Bring a startup mindset.

Not only are state and federal rules and restrictions on marijuana companies extensive, but “there are new ones every day, so you need to be super-adaptable and be able to change direction fast,” notes Karson Humiston at Vangst. “Candidates who have startup experience, and who have been through the scaling process, have a real advantage. People from large corporations, who aren’t used to rapid change, by contrast, tend to freak out.”

One more thing, in case you’re wondering: Direct experience of the product is optional. “Some employers might prefer to hire people who are [marijuana] consumers, simply because they’re more knowledgeable,” says Schumacher. “But it’s not a requirement.”

Good to know.

Anne Fisher is a career expert and advice columnist who writes “Work It Out,” Fortune’s guide to working and living in the 21st century.