Have you ever wondered what kind of career and internship opportunities might be available for IESE students in the world of energy? While 10 years ago the conversation was likely dominated by oil & gas, the modern energy transition has opened dozens of exciting opportunities in energy for students interested in strategy, finance, tech, startups, and more! In this post, the IESE Energy Club interviews some students from MBA Class of 2021 to find out more about their internship experiences.
Companies and Locations
This year’s batch of IESE interns managed to land positions in 13 very diverse companies including Amazon Web Services, Mertz Energy, Solarcentury, Suzano, Citi, McKinsey & Company, Sigrun Partners, Gomeep, Morgan Stanley, and more. These internships were offered in over 6 countries and many were done remotely due to COVID-related travel restrictions at the time. However even working remotely, many students had significant impact on companies, teams, and clients around the globe.
Roles and Functions
Internship functions varied widely and included roles in business development, finance, strategy, consulting, marketing, innovation, project development, and more. Clearly there is no stereotypical profile for people working in energy and roles are available for a wide array of interests and backgrounds. For example, Daran Lima from Brazil worked for SHV Energy in Amsterdam and shared some of his experience:
[I] developed a market entry strategy for other fuel sources as part of their designed transition plan to be 100% renewable sourced.
Aparna Murali shared part of what she got to work on while at Amazon:
My project included designing a go to market strategy relating to energy and sustainability along with a potential solution blueprint.
Recruiting
Unlike industries such as consulting and investment banking, the energy sector does not offer much by way of structured recruiting. Most students found their internships during the 2nd and 3rd term through the IESE Treks and individual networking. Angus Ess who interned at SIARQ Solar (and was offered a full-time job before finishing) describes his recruiting experience:
[The Career Development Center] was really helpful! They sent me a bunch of companies and I applied to them and choose the best offer in terms of which company I felt I could really get behind.
Other students strongly emphasized the importance of networking and preparing for interviews early in order to secure opportunities.
For those of you potentially interested in startups and entrepreneurship, Gomeep is a company founded by Michael Sheehy, an IESE 2019 alumnus who who started developing it during his MBA summer entrepreneurship experience. He’s now on Energy Club’s Board of Directors and has has hired several IESE interns this year, which just goes to show the value of the IESE network! You can learn more about the story of Gomeep here.
Advice for future students
Some words of wisdom from Pieter Swart, a strategy intern at Gomeep:
Find something you are truly interested in (even if unpaid or off the beaten track) and pursue it! People value passion above most other things.
Jordan Altaras who is the Executive VP of the IESE Energy Club and a recent business development/finance intern at Solarcentury emphasized:
Network, network, network. Talk to as many people within the field as possible to learn, gain ideas about new interesting sub-sectors, and make contacts for finding internship/job.
In the end, finding an internship in any industry is a challenge, but a bright path has been paved for those seeking to pursue opportunities in energy.
Still curious about IESE and the world of Energy? Check out the IESE Energy Club page for more fascinating insights: https://www.ieseged.com/
[This article is re-posted from IESE Energy Club Blog]
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