You’ve always wanted to work in the utilities sector. And now you have a BS or MS sheepskin and maybe some intern work under your belt. Time to get serious and start sending out resumes. Here are some of the top positions in utilities and what you’ll be doing:
Electrical Engineer or Gas Engineer
In this position, you’ll design or maintain power plants or natural gas delivery systems. You may also be responsible for ensuring that the complex grid that connects power plants to individual homes and businesses operates smoothly. As a newbie, you’ll probably start by doing tech support and analyses. As you move up in ranks, you’ll do project planning and management, which will take you into cost analysis work and the evaluation of new products and technologies.
Geologist or Petroleum Engineer
You’ll do a lot of fieldwork in this position, since you’ll be involved in the discovery and development of new oil deposits. You’ll be part of the team that determines where and how deep to drill. As a petroleum engineer, you'll be involved in drilling, production, processing, and transport of extracted crude.
Mechanical Engineer/Civil Engineer/Architect
Here, you’ll design and oversee construction projects—like offshore oil rigs, dams and wind farms. As a recent grad, you’ll do design and structural analysis work. As you move up, you’ll do everything from planning future projects to management and cost analysis.
Telecom Specialist or Computer Systems
These positions involve tech support and the troubleshooting of systems already on line. You may also get your feet wet in planning, purchasing, and setting up new systems. Good communicators and project management interns will have a leg up on landing these jobs.
For an added perspective, check out this video:
If you have any thoughts or suggestions on what new grads can expect from utilities industry careers, feel free to share them in the comments section.
Alex A. Kecskes has written hundreds of published articles on health/fitness, "green" issues, TV/film entertainment, restaurant reviews and many other topics. As a former Andy/Belding/One Show ad agency copywriter, he also writes web content, ads, brochures, sales letters, mailers and scripts for national B2B and B2C clients. Please see more of his blogs and view additional job postings on Nexxt.
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