Energy Career Paths: Tools for Job Seekers

Are you a job seeker or student who’s interested in learning how to move into an energy-related industry in Minnesota?

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Green Career Spotlight: Energy Engineer

Ever wonder what it’s like to be an energy engineer? Energy engineers wear many hats and meet many different people. They figure out how to make buildings—corporate, manufacturing, government, schools—and processes more energy efficient.

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Green Career Spotlight: Wind Farm Developer

Developing a wind farm involves a lot of groundwork before the first turbine goes up. Wind developers must assess the topography and geography of the land to determine the strength of the wind for turbine placement. They also need to "sell" the project to local landowners and work with energy utilities to build transmission lines and interconnections with the existing power grid.

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Why Me, Why Now? (A Career in Energy)

More college students are becoming interested in clean energy careers largely due to concerns over the environment. Science and engineering are becoming hot topics on campuses. Many students have grown up hearing about our dependency on foreign oil, the war in Iraq, and rising gas prices, and want to be part of changing these issues.

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STEM-ing the Tide

In past several years, you might have hard the buzz around encouraging students to pursue STEM disciplines in college. “STEM” simply stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Within these four broad categories are a diverse range of fields in agricultural, biological science, computer science, engineering, mathematics, physical science, and technology.

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Running With the Wind: Trends in the Wind Energy Industry

Recently, labor market analyst Kate Aitchison reviewed job vacancy survey findings in the biofuels and wind energy industries.  Today, Cameron Macht, labor market analyst for the Central and Southwest Minnesota region, takes a more in-depth look at trends that are driving employment growth in the wind energy industry—both statewide and in southwest Minnesota.

By most measures, Minnesota is a national leader in the wind energy industry. Minnesota ranks first in the percentage of its electricity generated from wind, has the fourth-largest amount of installed wind power capacity, and has the ninth-highest wind energy potential in the U.S. As the industry continues to grow, there will be more opportunities for jobseekers.

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