Energy and Sustainability Career Planning During a Pandemic

Spring term at Dartmouth has been far from ordinary, to put things mildly. In a normal year, the Great Melting and Mud Season are quickly followed by weeks of students sprawled across all corners of the Green, reading on park benches and front porches, playing frisbee with friends and classmates: appreciating well-earned sun and mild temperatures after six (nine) months of winter. Earth Week, Pow Wow, Green Key, and Commencement follow one after the other at warp speed. Seniors finish theses, accept job offers, and, after much pomp and circumstance, formally end their tenure as Dartmouth students.

This year was no normal spring term in Hanover. 

In the course of a few short weeks, faculty and staff were forced to rebuild syllabi and restructure or reimagine programs to adapt to the unique needs of the current moment. The Irving Institute's approach to adapting our energy careers-related programming during spring term was to focus on identifying student needs and designing programs that would meet those needs. We knew that students separated from on-campus mentors and other resources would need extra help navigating the job and internship search process. We also knew that the lack of work-study job opportunities would pose a financial hardship for many students and their families. So, in addition to offering ten student research assistantship positions to give undergraduates the opportunity to gain real-world experience studying the impact of COVID-19 on energy use and behavior, we offered two new careers programs during spring term to meet those needs. 

Alumni Sparks: Alumni Perspectives on Energy Careers

First, we launched a weekly "Alumni Sparks" webinar series, which featured alumni from many different corners of the energy industry and in different stages of their careers. (A complete list of guest speakers and video recordings of the sessions can be found here.) Alumni Sparks connected students directly with alums to hear about their own pathways to successfully working in energy, while also learning about the impact of COVID-19 on the energy industry and job market(s). The program brought experts and leaders from renewable energy and legacy systems sectors, as well as the non-profit and policy realms. The sessions were well attended and participating students were lively, curious, and engaged. Many attendees followed up with our speakers afterwards, and have continued to build relationships and learn more about energy career landscapes. We'll be announcing our lineup of summer Alumni Sparks speakers soon. 

Drop-in Career Advising Office Hours

We also offered three drop-in Careers Office Hours sessions, which were co-run with the Center for Professional Development and the Sustainability Office. This was an opportunity for students to connect with staff and get advice on their internship/job search processes. We had lots of productive conversations about students' interests, resources to explore, how to reach out to potential employers, funding opportunities, and much more. One exciting outcome of this program is that students are now connecting the Institute staff with their friends for one-on-one career coaching. The cat is out of the bag: the Irving Institute is here to help! We hope that this program will help to grow the awareness of our career support services and help us connect with a larger and broader array of Dartmouth students.

Overall, we have been pleased with the successes of our spring term "pivot," but needless to say, there have been challenges to working in this environment. We miss seeing students on campus and feeling the energy and excitement that they bring to our office and our programs. The virtual format has been great for accessibility and flexibility, and we plan to continue making programs available for asynchronous engagement. However, there's unquestionably something special about being together in Hanover, and we look forward to being together non-virtually again.