A mother wrote us this week wanting help for her high school freshman who could not find a college in Texas that offered a degree in the student’s preferred field. The student wants to start planning early to go to college.
The fact that field is new and emerging is an issue. It takes a lot of resources for colleges and universities to introduce new degrees and get all the necessary approvals.
But what will that degree look like when it is offered in future years? It is not an academic questions (pardon the pun) because the companies working and researching in that field are hiring people now. What are they looking for?
Fortunately the web lets us peek into company hiring practices. Let’s take a company who is looking for a solar engineer (very view places in the U.S. offer that degree – if any). On Monster.com the first job ad for solar engineering I found said:
“The ideal candidate should be an experienced energy engineer, utility consultant, or advanced degree engineer wanting to apply his or her engineering skills to a rapidly growing renewable technology consulting company
“… Specifically, candidates need to have an understanding and working experience with solar systems and/or components. The list may include but is not limited to: photovoltaic modules, racking or tracking systems, inverters, balance-of-system (AC and DC), transformers, switchgear, revenue metering, and data acquisition systems (SCADA).”
Notice that the second paragraph gives the student a good hint at the types of courses they should look into. The first shows that existing degrees are easily repurposed.
That said, the good news is that this student wants to start planning for a specific career at the beginning of their high school years.
Great. Hit the library or the internet often and soon.
Try Linkedin.com for instance. Where professionals meet and discuss topics in their profession. I typed in “Solar” and found a couple of promising groups.: Solar Energy Network, Solar Energy Professionals – PV & Thermal
Next, I typed in “Solar Engineering” and found some good prospects — groups for
- Electrical Engineering Jobs,
- Energy Jobs,
- Power and Wind Energy Jobs.
MAGAZINES –On the magazine side of resources, under a Google “solar” search, I found: Solar Energy Today, Solar Energy Magazine, and a host of other links.
Online Courses: Going to Lamar University’s Continuing Education Site, I found a six week course : Solar Power Professional – “you’ll learn the fundamentals of photovoltaic solar powered energy systems, gaining the knowledge you’ll need for an entry level position with a dealer, installer, or other photovoltaic industry company.”
Discussion Groups? I found
Free Courses – Under free online courses, I found one from Tufts University that looked to have some staying power, or a quick, six-class course from Sun’s Free Solar which can get you a quick broad overview.
Other resources – You can Google “Texas Energy Trade Show” and other nearby states for good trade shows to learn what is happening in the business (trade shows usually reserve one day of the show for students and educators). The Texas Renewable Energy Industries Association is a good resource in general.
You can set up a Google Alert for “Solar Energy” and another for “Solar Energy Engineer” — you’ll get information daily in your email inbox on the newest links Google has found.
Oh, and by the way, the feds have a page specifically devoted to solar energy jobs.
I know, it was a short question and a long answer. The point is that students today have a wealth of resources available to them to explore careers (we did all this on the internet. If we went upstairs to the Library, this post might have been 10 times as long).
–steve buser
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