Comprised of over 200 students, the HBS Energy & Environment Club promotes the energy, clean tech, and environment-related industries at Harvard Business School. The mission of the club is to develop the next generation of leaders in the energy industry by building a global network for HBS students that bridges academia, government, and industry, ultimately increasing the number of energy-related full-time and summer employment opportunities and offers.
Each year, the Energy & Environment Club hosts an “EC Internship Panel” (sponsored by the Business & Environment Initiative) featuring five second-year Elective Curriculum students (ECs) who completed summer internships across the energy industry. This year, students’ experiences ranged from startups like Advanced Microgrid Solutions to larger players like NextEra Energy – and from finance/investment banking at the New York Green Bank to operations at Tesla.
The 40+ first-year MBA students in attendance were eager to learn what to expect from the internship search cycle, from generating a list of target companies to nailing the interview and accepting the offer. Panel members went into detail about their experiences working with Career and Professional Development (CPD) to achieve their internship goals.
Eric Moch (MBA ’19) secured an internship at Tesla in the solar roof business after meeting “extensively with CPD career coaches to narrow down the companies that would give me the exact summer experience I was looking for.”
With the help of HBS career resources, Kate LeBeau (MBA ’19) created firm decision-making criteria that helped her “quickly identify company fit and provided clarity in the job-selection process,” leading her to an internship at Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co.
“Geography, sector, and company size were important criteria” for Kieron Stopforth (MBA ’19), who interned at Advanced Microgrid Solutions. "I wanted to spend my summer in San Francisco at a battery storage start-up.”
Caroline Dunn (MBA ’19) assuaged fears from RCs who were looking to make a switch from technical backgrounds to finance. “You don’t need to be worried if you don’t have a background in finance,” she shared. “I have a technical background, and I made the leap.” Caroline worked at ExxonMobil prior to HBS and went on to intern at the New York Green Bank.
Alona Bozhchenko (MBA ’19, Energy & Environment Club Co-President) interned at NextEra Energy and spoke about how she “met with NextEra representatives while helping organize the 2017 Energy Symposium, which gave me an edge in the recruiting process.” The Symposium will take place on Saturday, November 3, at HBS and includes prominent speakers from the energy industry, as well as a startup competition that will bring together some of the field’s most promising young entrepreneurs to present on their value proposition to the symposium’s attendees.
As the panel wrapped up, the ECs emphasized the importance of utilizing campus resources, such as CPD, the Business & Environment Initiative (BEI), and networks within the Energy & Environment Club. Thanks to Zander Sebenius (MBA ’19) and Andrew Leonpacher (MBA ’19) for organizing this event and the Business & Environment Initiative for its support and sponsorship.