Cleantech careers for MBA students
The purpose of this post is to share some tips and resources I found during my MBA job search that will hopefully help other MBAs looking for careers in Cleantech.
Most MBA programs are assembly lines for management consultants, investment bankers, and Fortune 500 companies. But things get a bit trickier for people looking for careers in the Cleantech sector. If you look at employment reports for top MBA programs, typically ~3% go into “Energy” and probably two-thirds of that is oil & gas. That means that in most MBA graduating classes only about 1% of MBA students go to electricity firms, of which some subset is Cleantech.
The good news is that you’ll have less competition, the bad news is that you will need to do much of your job hunting on your own without many of the resources of the career center. Sorry, no on-campus interviews. Here are some basic tips:
- Stay informed
First piece of advice is that you should bookmark Greentech Media and Utility Dive and read both of them on a frequent basis. I also recommend the podcasts “The Energy Gang” and “Interchange”, which have weekly podcasts on the Cleantech sector.
2. Develop a target company list
Next, decide what part of the Cleantech sector you’d like to be a part of and develop a list of the top 25–50 companies you’d like to work for. During this process consider the risk profile of the companies and your risk tolerance. Are you comfortable working at a startup that may go bankrupt in 2 years? Here is a brief summary of your options (not comprehensive company list):
Original Equipment Manufacturers (e.g. batteries, inverters, wind turbines, solar panels, etc.): Samsung, Panasonic, Siemens, GE, ABB, Schneider Electric, Eaton, First Solar, SunPower, Canadian Solar
Developers: AES, NRG, EDF, NextEra, Engie, Enel, 8minuteenergy
Trade Associations: Edison Electric Institute, Energy Storage Association, Solar Energy Industries Association, Smart Electric Power Alliance
Think tanks: Rocky Mountain Institute, World Resource Institute, Center for American Progress, Alliance to Save Energy, American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, American Council on Renewable Energy
Regulators: FERC, EPA, DOE, State PUCs like CPUC, NERC
Utilities: PG&E, Southern California Edison, SDG&E, Duke Energy, Exelon (PEPCO), Puget Sound Energy, Consolidated Edison
Consultants: ICF International, Accenture, McKinsey, Navigant, PwC, Deloitte, BNEF, IHS, GTMR
Software: Opower (now Oracle), Google, AMS, Geli, Simple Energy
Consumer products: Smart thermostats like Nest (Google) or Eco Bee
Private Equity: Blackstone Group, Energy Capital Partners, Denham Capital, Actis
Investment Banks: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan
Electric Vehicles: Tesla, Ford, Nissan, BMW, Mercedes (literally any auto manufacturer these days), Proterra (ebuses)
E-mobility: Lyft, Uber, Via, Bird, Lime, Electrify America, Green Charge
Energy Storage: Fluence, Tesla, Nidec, Stem, Greensmith, NEC, Bloom Energy
International Development: World Bank, IFC, IDB, ADB, Gates Foundation
Energy efficiency: Siemens, NRG, C3 Energy, Spirae
Demand response: EnerNOC, C-Power, NRG
Oil & gas renewable groups: BP, Shell, Orsted
Retail electricity: Spark, Direct Energy, NRG, Calpine, Vistra
Corporate Renewable Energy Purchasers: Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Ikea, Walmart
Other: Check out the top 100 Cleantech companies for 2018 here.
In my opinion, it is better to select a few industries and to become an expert on them rather than going superficial on many.
3. Pick a functional target
Within each of these sub-industries, there are a variety of functional roles. Great longer write up here from CleanTechMBA blog.
Business development / sales: You will work on go-to-market strategies, strategy, partnerships, and selling to clients.
Project development / finance: You will originate and/or evaluate renewable energy projects for a developer.
Marketing: You will help refine and communicate the value proposition for customers. This role will vary significantly depending on whether it is a B2C or a B2B company.
Product management: For people with a technical background like engineering, this role is the bridge from sales to the technology team that helps to take market feedback and develop the technology roadmap with the hardcore engineers.
Leadership programs: Many large companies have leadership programs that normally consist of four 6-month rotations across different groups and geographies.
4. Network like crazy
Networking does not mean getting drunk at happy hours. It means a methodical outreach campaign starting with warm contacts like friends and alumni and spreading from there. This is necessary because there isn’t a formal recruiting process for Cleantech jobs, so you will need to rely on your networking skills to find a job. Most startups hire just in time, so don’t expect to have a job locked down 6-months ahead of graduation. It is not uncommon to graduate without a job if you are targeting startups. It may even be recommended.
I highly recommend The 2-Hour Job Search book, which outlines a networking technique that I found to be highly effective. Summary of book found here.
I hope this guide is helpful and serves as a launching point for your job search. We need more smart people in Cleantech working to mitigate the impact of climate change, not trying to maximize clicks or calculate stock prices.
Good luck!
