Career Services and Alumni Connections
The Career Services at UW-Madison website is a great way to begin exploring your career options.
Building a professional network is also critical to career success. Badger Bridge is the Wisconsin Alumni Association's portal for connecting students and alumni. Learn more about Badger Bridge here.
The following resources are also useful for those interested in a career in clean energy.
Career Workshops
The Wisconsin Energy Institute (WEI) has collaborated with campus partners such as the Career Exploration Center and College of Engineering Advising to host workshops for students exploring career options in energy. Below are links to presentation slides and videos from recent workshops:
- Nelson Institute Careers in the Environment course (March 20, 2025) - Presentation Slides (PDF)
- Career Exploration Center (February 17, 2016) - Presentation Slides (PDF)
External Career Exploration Resources
- So You Want to Work in Climate… is a crowdsourced collection of 750+ resources for people who want to work in climate. There are tabs for job boards, Slack communities, books, and more.
- The U.S. Department of Energy supported the development of several clean energy career maps, including:
- Get into Energy provides information on different types of careers in the energy industry, including trades, engineers, and business careers.
- LearnHowtoBecome.org has created A Guide to Green Careers to "help readers better understand exactly what lies ahead for job seekers in a renewable, sustainable and more efficient world."
- CareerOneStop's Competency Model Clearinghouse demonstrates the various competencies needed in occupations for Renewable Energy; Energy Generation, Transmission, and Distribution; and Advanced Commercial Buildings.
- Clean Energy Jobs Midwest provides an interactive, in-depth look at clean energy employment in 12 Midwestern states, including Wisconsin. A 2024 survey found that the region currently employs over 760,000 workers in sectors including renewable energy generation, clean transmission, energy efficiency, clean fuels, and advanced transportation.
- U.S. Energy and Employment Report is a comprehensive summary of national, state and county-level energy jobs, reported by industry, technology, and region, with data on wages, demographics and employer perspectives on growth and hiring in the industry
- Net Impact - The Big Picture: Careers in Sustainable Energy and Green Tech provides a succinct overview of career opportunities in clean energy.
Job Listings
- Handshake is UW-Madison’s primary recruitment and career event management tool. Login with your NetID, and you can search job postings by keyword (e.g. "energy") or filter by employer type (e.g. "Utilities and Renewable Energy," "Oil and Gas," "Research," etc.)
- Energy Jobs is an email-only jobs listing service sponsored by the UW-Madison Energy Analysis and Policy program.
- Nelson Institute Environmental Jobs Board: Listings for environmental jobs (targeting students and alumni from the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies)
- Dayaway Careers: Helping exceptional university students prepare for and find clean energy jobs.
- Energy Central Jobs: Search for jobs in the electric power industry.
- Association of Energy Services Professionals Career Center: Jobs in the energy services industry.
- WRISE Career Center: Job site from Women of Renewable Industries and Sustainable Energy
- Association of Energy Engineers Career Hub: Job listings in energy management and energy engineering (membership may be required).
- Clean Energy Jobs: Federal government jobs in the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy