Energy Recruiting: Resiliency

Hi everyone, as much as I would like to share successful my recruiting stories with you all, I unfortunately do not have a success story to share. My advice to all, is do not be too picky in choosing which company to recruit for your internship experience. I really dug myself into a very big and narrow hole.

To start off my background is not too unique as I have an undergraduate degree in architecture and a master’s degree in civil engineering. I spent a year in China designing and building buildings and 7 years in Houston working as a structural engineer designing and building offshore oil/gas platforms. At business school here at Tepper, I had goal of changing careers from an engineering/design role to a financial role.

Career shifting is not unfamiliar to me, as I already switched from architecture to engineering. Jokingly, its expected within architecture industry as it serves as a great foundation to many other industries. Many great architects left and went on being successful designers and entrepreneurs in other industries, for example the masterminds behind the Air Jordon III’s, the Rubix Cube, and even the Ford 150. I am not included in this list yet.

There is nothing wrong with this story up until now, as its seemly typical for most energy companies. My downturn started from the very moment; I start the recruitment process. I took my initial list of energy companies of 80, filter them with pre-determined criteria and producing a result of 10 companies. My sorting criteria was quite superficial, such as location, whether it solar and not wind, and even company size. All I was left with was a small list of two I was super excited for. The problem with these two companies and the industry, is they are late in the recruitment process in comparison to other companies. They initiated the recruitment process with me in middle of march, which by then many industries outside of the energy industry are ending theirs. It took a toll on my mental health and I found myself initiating back-up plans B through Z. Due to this, I accepted an offer in a different position I initially planned for, and in an industry, I never excepted to be in.

I do not regret this and its quite the fortune experience so far. I am enjoying every moment of it so far. I am leveraging my analytics skills quite well and creating/confirming new market insights for the company. Maybe I found my true calling? When life gives you, lemons make lemonade.

For incoming students interested in positions within the energy field, my advice once again is do not follow my steps.