One Day, One Job » energy

Object Reservoir

Willy Franzen — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:06:11 +0000

I’ve written about a lot of green jobs, but I’m well aware that most of the jobs in the energy sector are still related to oil. As the price of oil continues to rise and competition starts to increase from alternative energy companies, we’re going to see more and more innovation in the oil industry—there will a much bigger focus on efficiency. One example of his Houston, TX based Object Reservoir, which is a company that helps their clients in the Energy & Petroleum industry model their underground wells to optimize drilling and maximize production. I spent a good amount of time reading over the company’s website to try to understand exactly what they do, and I have to admit that it’s way over my head. Hopefully for some of you it all makes sense.

Object Employed

Although I may not “get” what Object Reservoir is all about, I have to say that I’m impressed by the pictures on their website. It certainly looks like they know what they’re doing. In addition to that, the fact that their client list includes names like BP, Shell, and Chevron tells me that they’re well regarded in the industry. At its heart, Object Reservoir is a software company, and it seems that their software is changing the way that is oil is extracted. If you take a look at Object Reservoir’s website, and the terminology makes sense to you, then you should check out their Jobs page. Although there’s a little ambiguity in their job posting, it appears that Object Reservoir is currently recruiting entry level Reservoir Engineers. There’s a button on the Jobs page that allows you to apply by e-mail.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you understand what Object Reservoir does?

Intellectual Ventures

Willy Franzen — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:30:53 +0000

One of the books that I’ve been reading lately is SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance. It’s a great follow-up to the original Freakonomics, and it once again shows how changing your mindset can lead you to all kinds of new ideas (this is a really important lesson for job seekers). One of the companies that is mentioned in the book is Intellectual Ventures, a Bellevue, WA based invention company. They’re all about ideas. Things like product design, product development, manufacturing, marketing, sales, and service all come later, and Intellectual Ventures doesn’t want anything thing to do with those processes. They just invent, invent, invent. The company isn’t tied to one specific area—they’re working on problems like stopping Malaria, preventing hurricanes, and counteracting negative effects from climate change should they ever happen.

An Intellectual Venture for Your Career

For Intellectual Ventures it’s all about owning the intellectual property. They want to come up with the ideas, make them work, and then let other companies do the rest. The business side will be about licensing the technology to the right people on a non-exclusive basis possibly including spin-off companies, but for now it’s all about building a technology portfolio. Intellectual Ventures has been actively inventing since 2003, and since then they’ve filed thousands of patents. These patent applications “span a broad range of areas including computer software and hardware, user interface design, semiconductors, biomedical devices, advanced medical procedures, digital imaging, nanotechnology, nuclear energy and advanced particle physics.” As you can probably tell from that list of topic area (and the company’s name), Intellectual Ventures is filled with extremely smart people. It was founded by two former C level Microsoft executives.

If you’ve always been fascinated by invention and you think that you have the intellect, then you should check out Intellectual Ventures’ Jobs page. They have 50 positions posted right now, and most require a high level of education and experience, but a few seem suitable for new grads. Whether or not a position is right for you will rely heavily on how relevant your background is, so it makes more sense to browse the listings yourself to see what fits. You should also note that Intellectual Ventures has satellite offices in Silicon Valley, Austin, Tokyo, Beijing, Singapore, Seoul, and Bangalore.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you read SuperFreakonomics yet?

U.S. Green Building Council

Willy Franzen — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 16:07:08 +0000

I live across the street from what was formerly the world’s largest building—the Merchandise Mart in Chicago. It’s massive at 4,000,000 square feet, which is extremely impressive considering it was opened in 1930. What’s even more impressive is that, with some debate, the Merchandise Mart is now the world’s largest “green” building. It is LEED-EB Silver certified, and apparently the retrofitting that they did to achieve this certification has cut utility bills by 10%. Upgrading one of the largest buildings in the world to be more energy efficient and environment-friendly is a daunting task, luckily the LEED Certification process provided the owners of the Merchandise Mart with guidelines to work to. The organization behind LEED is the U.S. Green Building Council, which is based in Washington, DC. They are a non-profit that is “committed to a prosperous and sustainable future for our nation through cost-efficient and energy-saving green buildings.”

LEEDing You to a New Career

We’ve heard a lot about green jobs over the past few years, yet we haven’t seen the growth to back up the talk. Although the U.S. Green Building Council is a non-profit that probably won’t grow as quickly as a for-profit focused on the $60 billion green building industry, they do have some pretty cool job offerings. Here are some stats that explain why the USBGC is doing what they do:

Buildings in the United States are responsible for 39% of CO2 emissions, 40% of energy consumption, 13% water consumption and 15% of GDP per year, making green building a source of significant economic and environmental opportunity. Greater building efficiency can meet 85% of future U.S. demand for energy, and a national commitment to green building has the potential to generate 2.5 million American jobs.

If you like where the USGBC is going, then you should check out their Jobs page. They have quite a few positions posted, and a number of them appear suitable for new grads. These include Associate – Chapter Leadership Development, Computer Systems Analyst, Education Review Associate, Executive Administrative Assistant, and LEED Technical Customer Service Associate. To apply for any of these positions you can send your “résumé and letter of interest with salary requirements and title of position applying for to jobs@usgbc.org.”

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you know about the U.S. Green Building Council?

Franklin Fuel Cells

Willy Franzen — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:41:37 +0000

Whether you think the human race is going to end at the hands of the greenhouse effect or you just don’t like paying 3 bucks a gallon for gas, you likely have a vested interest in alternative energy. There’s a good chance that some time in your lifetime our main energy source will be something other than fossil fuels. Then again, I’m just coming to the realization that I won’t see flying cars in my lifetime. Hopefully I’m wrong about that one. Anyway, there are a ton of companies that are vying to win a big share of the alternative energy market. Many of these are small startups that you’ve never heard of. Their websites are ugly, and they’re usually not located in big cities. You’d never guess it from their appearance, but they’re actually at the forefront of engineering technology. One of these companies is Malvern, PA based Franklin Fuel Cells. Their focus is on “commercializing a unique solid oxide fuel cell (SOFCs) technology that can operate directly on today’s hydrocarbon fossil fuels as well as future fuels such as, biofuels and hydrogen.” I don’t really know what that means, but it sounds pretty cool.

Career Alternatives in Alternative Energy

Franklin Fuel Cells has a few million dollars in venture capital funding, and they’re working on technology that originated at the University of Pennsylvania. It’s hard to say whether they actually have any products, services, or licensing deals to bring in revenue yet, but it’s very clear that their focus is on developing technology that will shape the future. This is a long term play. Franklin Fuel Cells only has about a dozen employees right now, yet they have a few positions that they appear to be looking to fill. Most of the jobs require a graduate degree and at least a few years of experience, but Franklin Fuel Cells’ Jobs page does show an opening for a Test Technician that appears to be suitable for new grads. You can apply by sending a cover letter, résumé, and salary requirements to epaz@arbfc.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you think fuel cells will play a big part in our future?

Action Inc.

Willy Franzen — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 15:02:12 +0000

I love it when I get great recommendations for companies/organizations to feature from readers (if you have one, let me know at willy@onedayonejob.com). That’s how I found out about Gloucester, MA based Action Inc. I was sent a link to this article about how the non-profit agency will be getting “$8.5 million in federal stimulus money over the next three years to improve energy efficiency in low-income households from Gloucester to Haverhill to Lynn.” The cool thing about the project is that it not only focuses on reducing energy consumption, but it also focuses on helping low-income people save money that they’re literally burning away. Action Inc. is all about economic security, so their work goes well beyond energy efficiency. It also includes Advocay, Youth Outreach, In Home Care, Housing Loans, Job Training, Emergency Shelters, and Toy Drives.

Take Action

Action Inc. may sound a bit unfocused; however, that’s not really the case. They do their outreach in a variety of ways, but they aim to help a very specific segment of a very localized population. When it comes to promoting economic security for low-income people in the Gloucester area, they do whatever it takes to promote progress. However, you have to think that there will be an increased focus on the area of energy efficiency with the stimulus funds. That might also mean more job openings at Action Inc. Right now they have a Regional Coordinator position available that appears to be suitable for a new grad. You can find the details on how to apply in the job posting, so give it a good read and see if it sounds like something that you’d want to do.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Action Inc.?

Positive Energy

Willy Franzen — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 15:59:42 +0000

How much energy do you use every day? I’m not talking about Calories, although I’d be surprised if you knew that, I’d be shocked if you could tell me how much energy you consume on a given day. You might know how much you spend (and that might be more important), but as energy becomes a bigger and bigger issue, you need to be an informed “consumer.” Everybody needs a little Positive Energy, right? Well Positive Energy is an Arlington, VA based company that is working to “engage the 300 million Americans who are in the dark about their energy use through a combination of cutting edge technology, analytic direct marketing, behavioral science and world-class design.” Sounds pretty cool to me.

Positive Energy for Your Job Search

Positive Energy is a relatively new company, but it looks like they’re already well on their way to offering products and solutions that are going to change the way that we think about energy. Their approach is different from other companies and organizations with similar goals because Positive Energy relies on four areas of expertise: Behavioral Science, Direct Marketing Analytics, Measurement and Verification, and Private Industry Engagement. This must be working for them, because they have quite a few job openings available on their Jobs page. Jobs that might interest new or recent college grads include Implementation Engineer, QA Engineer, Account Executive, and Business Analyst. The job descriptions are relatively in-depth and can be found at the bottom of Positive Energy’s Jobs page. To apply for any of these jobs, you can send a cover letter and resume to jobs@positiveenergyusa.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Positive Energy’s approach?

Point Carbon

Willy Franzen — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 13:59:42 +0000

Carbon is everywhere – in trees, air, diamonds, your body, yet it typically seems pretty harmless. For the most part carbon isn’t something that you lock up under the kitchen sink to keep away from the baby, although breathing carbon monoxide will kill you, and there is the fear that we may be using carbon monoxide to cook ourselves. No matter what you think about “global climate change,” you have to recognize that attempts to limit carbon emissions are quickly becoming a major business concern. That means that businesses of all sizes are either going to have to invest significant resources in trading in carbon markets, or they’re going to have to outsource. If they’re going to outsource, Point Carbon is the place to go. They provide “independent news, analysis and consulting services for European and global power, gas and carbon markets” based on the information they get from their “experts in international and regional climate policy, mathematical and economic modelling, forecasting methodologies, risk management and market reporting.” If you’re interested in energy policy or markets, there couldn’t be a better place to work than Point Carbon.

Entry Level Jobs Aren’t Made of Carbon

Point Carbon hasn’t been around very long – they started in 2000. That’s because carbon trading is a relatively new thing. First of all, we haven’t been worried about carbon emissions for very long. Second of all, the idea of trading pollution credits is quite young. That means that both Point Carbon and the environmental market industry have a lot of room for growth. Can you think of a better place to start your career than an industry leader in a rapidly growing market?

Right now, the two job openings at Point Carbon that look most promising for new college grads are Sales Executive and Marketing Coordinator. Both of these positions are located in Washington, DC and require limited experience. Point Carbon also has a number of Analyst and Consulting positions listed on their Careers page that might be good fits for new grads, but they are located in Oslo, Norway. If you’re feeling adventurous, a move over there could be a great way to spend the first few years after graduation. If you’d like to work for Point Carbon, you’ll have to visit the specific job descriptions and scroll to the bottom to find the e-mail address to which you should send a cover letter and resume. Don’t worry, you won’t have to buy carbon credits to breathe in their office – it’s one of their benefits.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Heard anything about Point Carbon? Leave a comment.

Association for Energy Affordability

Willy Franzen — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 14:03:41 +0000

Half of the news lately has been about high gas prices. It gets tiring, since the stories never bring a new angle. Oddly enough, gas has been relatively price inelastic until recently. Prices would go up, and people would keep on driving like they did with lower gas prices. We’ve finally hit a point where people are actually cutting back on their driving because gas is so expensive. Although we haven’t done any research to back this up, we’d bet that home energy use is even less price elastic that gasoline use. Most people’s Dad’s yell at them for leaving a light on, but they don’t take serious measures to limit their home energy consumption – it takes too much effort. The Association for Energy Affordability is a New York City based non-profit that promotes energy affordability through conservation in the home.

Supply and Demand

Energy conservation is a two-fold solution to high energy costs. First, you spend less if you use less. Second, using less decreases total demand. That should mean that the price goes down. Assuming people don’t demand more energy when it gets cheaper, that lower price should be somewhat stable. Ok, that’s enough of an Economics lesson today. The Association for Energy Affordability promotes conservation through a number of programs and services. They focus mainly on working with low and moderate income families in the NYC area. One of the major ways they help these families is by doing energy audits, that’s why the Association for Energy Affordability is hiring entry-level Energy Auditors. This is a great opportunity for new engineering grads who are looking for non-profit work.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Sorry for the short post, but the Internet was down this morning and we had to rush to get this published.

Aspen Environmental Group

Willy Franzen — Thu, 22 May 2008 13:03:01 +0000

It’s safe to say that the environment is becoming a big political issue again. If the trend continues, a likely result will be increased government regulation. It’s important that our shared resources are protected, but government regulation often ends up creating intricacies and loopholes that increase the cost of doing business without accomplishing the desired beneficial outcome. It’s easy to say that companies should just suck it up and learn to stop putting the environment at risk, but that point of view fails to look at the whole picture. There are very few people in the world whose livelihoods don’t have an adverse impact on the environment, which means that more restriction can significantly decrease some people’s abilities to put food on the table (it can also significantly decrease a corporation’s ability to put billion dollar profits on the table). Businesses often have to jump through hoops to gain both government and community approval of environmentally sensitive projects, but they rarely retain staff with such specialties. Aspen Environmental Group is a company that provides the required expertise.

Are They Good Guys or Bad Guys?

When I was growing up, it seemed like all of the cartoons included some heinous villain whose sole mission in life was to dump toxic waste into the ocean and kill all the wildlife. It makes you wonder what the cartoonists’ agendas were, doesn’t it? Despite what some of you might think, these villains don’t exist. Nobody enjoys polluting, but a lot of people do it out of greed or ignorance. As the “premier integrated, interdisciplinary environmental compliance, planning, and engineering services provider for energy, natural resource, and infrastructure projects in the western United States,” Aspen Environmental Group helps companies (and the Federal Government!) do things the right way – the sustainable way. They may not be chaining themselves to trees and running down oil tankers in inflatable boats, but they are the good guys.

Working for Aspen

Aspen’s core competencies lie in two areas – first, they specialize in understanding the effects of human interaction with the environment; second, they are experts at navigating the processes of government regulation. With that in mind, they are always looking for bright individuals who have educational or experiential expertise in environmental engineering. Aspen has locations in San Francisco, Sacramento, Agoura Hills (the Los Angeles area), and Phoenix. They are currently hiring college graduates for entry-level positions in Agoura Hills and Sacramento.

Their Jobs page shows openings for an Environmental Planner/Scientist and an Environmental Engineer/Scientist (Air Quality) in Agoura Hills, and for a Vegetation Management Specialist, Energy and Infrastructure Planner/Analyst, and Energy Analyst in Sacramento. There are also positions in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) at both locations. The GIS positions require “two years direct experience with ArcInfo 9.x performing GIS analysis, database design, reports and cartography.” We have no idea what that means, so we’re not sure if it’s the type of experience that you could have acquired in college. The descriptions on all of the job listings are in-depth and specific, so you should have no trouble determining which of the positions is best for you to apply to (if you’re like us and don’t know what they’re talking about, you’re probably not going to get the job).

Aspen Environmental Group is also always looking for people with talents relevant to Land Use, Traffic and Transportation, Water Resources, Visual Resources, Air Quality, and Noise. If that’s you, feel free to send a resume and cover letter for an unlisted position. If you’re interested in working for Aspen in Sacramento, you can send your materials to SactoJobs@AspenEG.com. To apply for a job in Agoura Hills, an unlisted position, or a job at either location, send your resume and cover letter to Aspen@AspenEG.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

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Rumsey Engineers

Willy Franzen — Thu, 01 May 2008 12:00:26 +0000

My house in college was not energy efficient, unless you consider the heating system’s not working half the time a feature of design. The doors and windows all leaked cold air in the winter, and it was impossible to cool the house down below about 95 degrees in the summer. We even tried covering the windows in the winter for added insulation, but it didn’t help much. Our monthly heating bills were outrageous despite the fact that my roommates were cheap and insisted on turning the thermostat down below the point at which our landlord warned us that the pipes would freeze. Energy efficiency was clearly not a priority for whoever built our house, but if it had been they could have hired someone like Rumsey Engineers to design it.

An Environmentally Minded Company in the Bay Area? No Way!

If you were to start a company that offered green engineering services, where would you locate it? Probably ~~in an area with a lot of smug~~ somewhere that people are relatively well off and generally environmentally conscious. Well there’s no place that better fits that description that the San Francisco Bay Area, and that’s why Rumsey Engineers has located themselves in Oakland, CA. They are a company with a “passion for high performance, environmentally sustainable and energy efficient heating, ventilating and air conditioning system designs.” So that’s what they design. It’s smart to follow your passions. Not only are energy efficient designs something that customers can feel good about, but they’re also a great response to rising energy costs. I’d certainly be considerably richer if my college living quarters hadn’t sucked up energy like a 3 hour lecture right after lunch.

They’re Hiring… Wait for It… Engineers

A quick look at Rumsey Engineers’ Careers page shows that all of their job listings require 2+ years experience. So why are we posting about them? Because companies often say things like “2 years experience” but really don’t mean them. This isn’t just some speculation on our part, for we’ve found these same jobs advertised on a college job board as entry-level. Rumsey is hiring new engineering graduates for jobs such as Energy Modeler, Energy Analyst, HVAC Design Engineer, and Plumbing Engineer. Rumsey Engineers prides itself on having a relaxed environment, but a high performance workplace. That sounds just right for a new grad from a top engineering program.

Resumes and cover letters can be sent to cbonner@rumseyengineers.com. Even if the positions listed don’t appeal to you, but you have an interest in green engineering or energy issues, they’d love to hear from you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

How energy efficient are your living quarters? Has your college provided energy efficient housing, or are you stuck with a landlord who couldn’t care less? Leave a comment.

Navigant Consulting

Willy Franzen — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 13:00:23 +0000

This time of year, many of the entry-level consulting jobs are already filled. It’s amazing and a little disappointing if you’re still in the job market, but a good portion of consulting firms fill all of their entry-level job openings six to twelve months in advance of when the new hires will start working. That leaves a lot of soon to be college graduates who want to get into consulting with limited choices. Whether you were turned down when you applied in the fall, never got around to applying, or just realized that you’re interested in consulting, the apparent dearth of consulting jobs probably has you considering looking at other fields in lieu of consulting. Don’t give up so fast! There are still a lot of great consulting jobs out there, you just have to look beyond the sexy names. As is typical in the industry, Navigant Consulting does most of their hiring through campus recruiting in the Fall, but they still have some entry-level job openings.

Although consulting may sound like a very specific industry, it’s actually a pretty vague term that describes any company that helps guide other companies. Every consultancy seems to have certain specialties, but the main idea is that you hire a consulting firm because they have expertise in something that your company doesn’t. Navigant Consulting specializes in litigation, financial, healthcare, energy and operational consulting services for government agencies, legal counsel and large companies that are facing the challenges of uncertainty, risk, distress and significant change. Navigant Consulting is especially focused on industries that are “undergoing substantial regulatory or structural change.” So, that means that when the government changes the rules that businesses must abide by, Navigant is there to straighten things out. Since we seem to be in a world where the government increasingly interferes with and regulate businesses, this is an area of consulting that should see significant growth. Just look at the results from Navigant Consulting’s most recent quarter.

So why should you apply for a job at Navigant Consulting besides the fact that you can’t find any other consulting jobs? Well, they were ranked on BusinessWeek’s list of “Best Places to Launch a Career” for the past two years (#53 in 2006 and #94 in 2007) and according to their recruiting profile from the BusinessWeek feature (this is really worth a look) they hire for approximately 100 entry-level positions every year. Since they’re relatively small company, entry-level employees make up a significant portion of their workforce. That should mean that there’s a youthful culture, which fits with what we’ve heard – that Navigant is more laid back than other consulting firms. We also like that they have a page about the career path for Navigant employees, since it makes it very clear what the opportunities for advancement are.

We like Navigant’s Careers Site since it has a lot of valuable content that is targeted to college students who are looking for their first job. The navigation is on the right hand side and is a little confusing, but the amount of information on their Careers Site more than makes up for it. We also like that it’s easy to find their entry-level positions, you just go here and click search. The job descriptions aren’t all that exciting, but they tell you everything that you need to know including minimum GPA, which varies by position. Current openings include: Energy Consultant in Burlington, MA, San Francisco, CA, and Washington, DC (yes, 1 job, 3 locations); Construction Consultant in San Francisco, CA; Healthcare Revenue Consultant in Washington, DC; and Disputes and Investigations Consultant in New York City, NY or San Francisco, CA (that’s two different positions).

That was pretty in-depth. We hope it wasn’t too much information, but there’s a lot to know about Navigant Consulting. Despite all we’ve covered, there’s a lot more to find out, so get researching!

Note: On April 25th we revisited entry-level jobs at Navigant Consulting. Since our original post, they’ve completely redesigned their site, so some things that we said may no longer be accurate. We took a brief look and fixed all of the broken links, and we have to say that site looks greatly improved.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

If you’re looking for an internship in consulting instead, take a look at our post on One Day, One Internship about internships at Navigant Consulting.

Nanosolar

Willy Franzen — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 13:00:02 +0000

Solar power is one of those things that continues to amaze you long after you’re first introduced to it. Even if it’s just a photovoltaic cell connected to a lightbulb, the harnessing of the sun’s power always seems to generate a feeling of child-like amazement. Lucky for our planet, that youthful exuberance has remained in many of today’s entrepreneurs, even after they have grown up. Because of them, it seems that we might soon see the day when solar power moves from something that hobbyists play around with to a real source of sustainable energy.

From what we can tell, the big difference maker in the solar power industry is cost per watt. Obviously, lower cost is better, and that’s what Nanosolar specializes in. They’ve developed a method of printing – yes, printing – photovoltaic cells that are far more affordable than most other solar energy options.

We’re not going to go into too much detail about exactly what Nanosolar does, but we’ve put together a collection of links that should lead you to the information you want. If you need a really quick overview of the company, check out the Wikipedia Entry on Nanosolar

There’s only one job at Nanosolar that is explicity geared towards entry-level candidates, and it’s a position as a Design Engineer. There are numerous other jobs that require an Associates Degree and three years experience. We wonder whether a Bachelor’s Degree with less experience could be considered equivalent? So take a look at Nanosolar’s other job listings, and if you don’t find what you like, try cold calling them – they seem to encourage it on their careers page. Speaking of which, Nanosolar’s careers page doesn’t offer too much information, but what it does offer is clear, concise, and straight to the point. They want the best talent, regardless of experience, and they’re willing to do whatever it takes to attract, develop, and retain that talent.

Note: On April 24th we revisited entry-level jobs at Nanosolar.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

How long do you think it will be until we, as a society, start using solar power as a significant energy source?