Top 5 skills (you may already have) for a career in clean energy

The world's much-needed sprint to reduce carbon emissions has created a burst of job opportunities in the clean energy field. Industry experts estimate that climate, energy, and environmental investments from the Inflation Reduction Act will create 9 million jobs over the next decade. Demand is high, and supply is willing: The pandemic taught us that US workers are ready to trek down new career paths. As the economy stares down serious headwinds in the coming years and the tech industry faces mounting layoffs, clean energy jobs will hit a continued growth trajectory, even in an economic downturn.

Mobilizing a green workforce is a global imperative and an employee's opportunity — especially for the growing number of job seekers who want an environmentally sustainable employer. But workers might not be making the connection between their current skills and those needed in a newer, greener economy. Are you looking to do something good for the world while advancing your career with greater job security? You might be surprised to learn that you've already got what it takes.

Here are the top five skills that will catapult your career in clean energy:

1. Problem solving

Those with an innate ability to solve problems — IT project managers, air traffic controllers, construction managers, computer programmers, social workers, and more — have a much-needed skillset for the clean energy industry. Decreasing our carbon footprint to zero is the biggest problem we'll need to solve in our lifetime.

Clean energy businesses and governments are counting on the problem solvers to assist with supply chain management, project management and execution, financial analysis and modeling, construction, and all types of engineering (electrical, mechanical, network, and software). Those currently in the transportation, construction, and manufacturing industries could make an easy — and lucrative — transition to clean energy. Construction managers can make a healthy salary.

2. Collaboration

Collaboration is key to the success of any business, but particularly those in an industry tasked with doing new, hard things fast. The teamwork required in the military, combined with leadership and technical skills, make veterans a natural choice for roles in the clean energy field.

For Lee Herrick, the skills he gained in his six years in the Marine Corps translated well to clean energy. After working in aircraft maintenance, Herrick switched to the role of solar technician.

"Military life helps to develop the skills and attitude that are required to perform high-quality work. It also emphasizes the importance of team unity, which is vital on a solar project," said Herrick.

If you're a veteran or your career began in a collaboration-heavy field like communications, human resources, marketing, customer service, or market research, you likely have skills that are easily transferable to clean energy roles.

3. Analytical thinking

The increasing impacts of climate change require the accelerated growth of renewable energy, alongside large-scale updates to the power grid. Companies tackling this work need employees who can do data-driven modeling, risk analysis to continue making these systems more renewable and resilient.

If your resume reads data analyst or even software architect today, it could translate to a role as an energy analyst tomorrow. Network engineers with experience rethinking traditional approaches to data configuration, troubleshooting, and analysis, will play a critical role in building the next generation of energy infrastructure.

Those with the analytical thinking skills to both digest data, shape a story, and turn evaluation into action will be the builders of a smarter, cleaner grid for communities across the country.

4. An innovation mindset

If you yearn to create something new, now's your chance. Wind and solar technologies have been mainstays of renewable energy for years, but the development of new technologies like battery storage, hydrogen fuels, and bioenergy — will also be needed to achieve net-zero emissions.

In addition to creating new technologies, those in the clean energy field will help the world create new systems. City planners are working to develop sustainable urban environments by electrifying bus fleets, embracing rooftop solar, and rethinking community design.

Today's engineers and art directors are tomorrow's systems designers and sustainable city developers.

5. A sustainability mindset

Those who work in the clean energy field embrace a sustainability mindset. Some workers climb wind towers; others manage sustainable supply chains. All of them, like Enel senior civil engineer Israa Ismail, are working hard to figure out how we can make our companies and communities places that meet our needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs.

A sustainability mindset recognizes that our efforts must address economic viability, environmental protection, and social equity. As the clean energy industry grows so grow opportunities to create a diverse workforce. Said Ismail, "Projects in clean energy create job opportunities, build community relationships, and help create more resilient local economies and energy systems. If that's not sustainability, I don't know what is."

One other big thing to consider? The job security that comes with longevity. The clean energy industry is just getting started tackling huge, Earth-moving problems that we'll be working on for generations. Your soft skills are more transferable than you might have considered, and your technical skillset can be enhanced through reskilling and training programs offered by many companies, colleges, and technical schools across the country. Assess your skillset and make a change. It will be worth it.

Visit our Career Hub to explore clean energy career opportunities with Enel North America.

This post was created by Enel North America with Insider Studios.