How I Found My First Clean Energy Job at an Industry Conference

As an MBA student interested in clean energy, you’ll soon find there aren’t a ton of Career Board job postings nor corporate recruiters soliciting you for coffee chats. You will probably need to sources clean energy jobs yourself through alumni networks, happy hours and industry events.

I ultimately broke into the clean energy industry after graduation by networking at an industry conference, and I encourage you to consider attending one or two yourself. Some popular clean energy conferences include those by Solar Power International, Energy Storage Association, InterSolar, GreenTechMedia, SEIA…etc.

Conferences are a fantastic way for MBA students to:

• Gain expertise about the industry: Conferences contain several industry information panels (e.g. ‘Outlook for Storage in 2019’ or ‘What an ITC Extension Means for Solar’) The information provided is typically high-level and somewhat common knowledge for those already working in the industry, but they sessions are perfect for students or those still learning about the industry.

• Expand your network: This goes without saying, but attending conferences is perfect for meeting more people in the industry. Yes, while it’s easy to build your network locally, it’s often hard to meet SF professionals when you live across the coast. The energy industry is small enough as it is, so any opportunity to expand your network is valuable.

• Find unlisted job opportunities: Since many job roles aren’t public, it’s a great opportunity to learn about upcoming roles, or even better, pitch your value to a potential employer and create your own.

Attending conferences can be intimidating, lonely, and expensive – especially for someone more introverted like me. Despite these drawbacks, the benefits far outweigh the cons. Personally, I knew I wanted to get into energy storage post-graduation, so I picked the Energy Storage Association conference (in North Carolina) in May 2016. I chose this conference for several reasons:

• Representatives from all my target firms were there: I researched the speakers /attendee list on the website before I registered. I specifically focused on behind the meter energy storage, (four major players in the space: AMS, GELI, Stem, Green Charge Networks), and all the companies I was interested in had representatives there.

• I wanted to learn more about the industry - Aside from the networking component, there were plenty of industry panels on the subject. I knew I needed to learn more about storage, so even if I didn’t manage to network as much I wanted, the fresh information would still be useful.

• It was heavily discounted for students: Working folk paid up to $1,000+, but student rates were only $150. Flights were also very reasonable, and since I split a hotel room with a classmate, I was able to get the total cost for the trip down to less than $500. Even if there aren’t any discounts to students publicly available, you can reach out to organizers and ask to volunteer for a discounted rate. I know GTM significantly discounts their attendance fee if you email them and ask about volunteer options (I’ve tried!).

Here are three tips to prepare for your first clean energy conference:

1. Research who will attend beforehand: Many websites have lists of ‘featured speakers’ and some will even show a registered members list. Use these lists to target those you can speak to. Make it a goal to introduce yourself to 3 people per day, and learn more about their companies. You can also email fellow alumni and set up coffee chats ahead of time.

2. Prepare questions beforehand and ask them during sessions: At the end of information session, the moderator will usually ask for questions from the audience. I’m generally bad at coming up with intelligent questions on the spot, but I had prepared several beforehand and spoke up during these sessions. After the sessions, it was easy to speak to the panelists since they already knew who I was.

3. Have Your 30-second pitch ready: I ended up speaking to the CEO of an energy storage startup and briefly introduced myself in my 30 second speech. At the end of our short conversation, I politely asked for his business card, and followed up with my resume several days later. He eventually connected me to the CFO at his company (who eventually became my boss), and the rest is history!

Unfortunately, I am aware we are in the midst of the Covid-19 epidemic, so these conferences may be ‘virtual’, or even cancelled. However, when the economy resumes to normal, hopefully you will be able to attend one or two.