Have you always wanted to work in the weed industry? Urban Aroma is here to help with our guide to the best cannabis industry jobs!
Urban Aroma was proud to support the first-ever “Canna Get a 2nd Chance” cannabis career fair that took place on September 2 at City Hall in Hawthorne, CA. The event was highly successful, connecting over 200 jobseekers with weed industry leaders, career coaches and hiring managers for cannabis industry jobs.
The event was part of a larger effort by 40 Tons Brand to promote social equity in the cannabis industry by focusing recruitment efforts for cannabis industry jobs on Black and Brown communities.
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Anthony and Loriel Algrete founded 40 Tons Brand with Corvain Cooper with a mission to support advocacy for the release of federal marijuana prisoners. Anthony Algrete was formerly incarcerated for marijuana, and Corvain Cooper was granted clemency by President Trump in 2020 after being sentenced to life in prison for cannabis. The 40 Tons team is dedicated to giving back to those impacted by the War on Drugs, and bringing cannabis job opportunities to their community.
“Canna Get a 2nd Chance” offered an expungement clinic for attendees looking for jobs in cannabis, with a team of lawyers on-site to assist those with prior cannabis convictions in the process of clearing their records. Twenty-five attendees took advantage of the clinic to expunge their records. The event also featured a panel of industry leaders offering tips on how to make a cannabis career in the legal weed industry, and 13 attendees were awarded with scholarships to Oaksterdam University.
Urban Aroma was on hand at the event to greet attendees and promote cannabis business opportunities to join our team. It was exciting to see over 50 jobseekers getting help crafting resumes with free expert advice from Brand Resumes. There was also a professional photographer on hand offering new headshots, with more than 20 people taking advantage of the free service.
All in all, the Canna Get a 2nd Chance cannabis career fair connected over 200 people with hundreds of cannabis industry jobs. The next events will take place in 2022, with fairs in Los Angeles and Oakland, CA, and Jersey City, NJ. For more information on cannabis job opportunities, visit cannabishiringfairs.com.
Read on for tips and tricks on working in weed with the Urban Aroma Guide to Cannabis Industry Jobs!
How to get a cannabis industry job
Networking and marketing yourself for a cannabis industry job can, at times, feel like a herculean task. Getting your foot in the green door can be challenging, especially since so many cannabis companies are still in a startup mindset and might not have traditional recruiting tactics or HR departments for careers in cannabis.
If you’re looking to break into the business or just take a bigger step, we’ve got some actionable advice for how and where to look for cannabis industry jobs as well as some handy resources for staying sharp on industry news.
Be transparent about your work experience
Be honest and upfront with potential connections and employers about what you can and can’t offer. Being transparent about your cannabis career goals and your applicable skills and experience for a cannabis industry job means you’ll find better career connections faster.
Make your cold outreach purposeful
You only ever get one chance to make a first impression. So when you’re engaging in cold networking outreach — firing off LinkedIn messages and Instagram DMs — make it count. Be intentional with your outreach, whether it’s for a marijuana dispensary job or a non-plant-touching position. Show that you’ve taken the time to learn something about your new potential point of contact, and look to find common ground that is meaningful to the discussion you’re starting. As with all of your correspondence, try not to come off as an automated robot (looking at you salesfolks).
Be prepared to speak about your relationship to the plant
Again, honesty is the best policy here. Grey market or unregulated cannabis experience can still be valuable when getting started with a plant-touching role in the legal market. If you’re in a legal market now, and have past experience that translates to a potential employer, don’t be afraid to share it while also emphasizing that your career goals are to excel in a company that’s above board. Your home grow experience could lead to a cannabis cultivation job.
Find your local resources
If you want to build out your network, it helps to start locally — especially since where you currently live is most likely where you want to make your next move on a great cannabis career. You’ll want to search for local professionals and companies in your state and get connected on social media, attend industry events like the Canna Get a 2nd Chance Jobs Fair, join vocational Facebook groups, and set up job alerts in your region on LinkedIn and various job boards.
Volunteer your time and commit to a cause
Volunteering your time and expertise is a great way to productively network, especially in a mission-driven industry like cannabis. If you have a skillset or expertise you can readily offer, build your network by contributing these assets. Investing your time as a volunteer can establish trust and even just a few hours here and there can have a big impact.
Beyond volunteering your professional services, there are countless cannabis job opportunities to build your cannabis network by getting involved with social justice and community-building efforts. Last Prisoner Project, for one, offers hands-on volunteer opportunities, from event organizing to re-entry mentorship to letter-writing campaigns.
Keep up with industry trade news
There’s no shortage of resources out there for gathering the latest info on cannabis news. Of course, there’s your friends here at Urban Aroma, and here are a few more worth following:
Follow through, even beyond a "no" answer
Cannabis is highly competitive, so hundreds of applications can flow in even for just a basic budtender job posting. Remember that not getting a job in the cannabis industry doesn't always mean that you’re not qualified, it just means to keep building up momentum. A great way to do this is to keep ongoing relationships going with hiring managers or employers who may have passed you over the first time. This is such a small industry — be sure to build bridges and not burn them.
Share your enthusiasm for the cannabis industry
Landing a cannabis industry job isn’t just about your resume and past experience. The way you present your experience, and how you bolster that experience with critical intangibles, like your passion for the job and passion for the industry, is just as important.
Because the cannabis industry is growing, you’ve got to stand out and most of the leaders you meet have some specific motive that got them to where they are. Make sure you’ve found your reason for wanting to work in the weed business, and don’t be afraid to nerd out about your knowledge.
By virtue of wanting to work in the cannabis industry you are an advocate for the plant. Knowing this will help you stand out from a crop of interviewees who simply say they love weed, or have little-to-no experience consuming or studying cannabis cultivation. Good luck in your hunt for cannabis industry jobs — and tag us on Instagram when you land your dream position!
The Urban Aroma Guide to Cannabis Industry Jobs was researched and written by Sean Merrick.