Oxford

ENERGY + THE ENVIRONMENT
GEORG BOIE
Managing Director – juwi Group:
Operations & Maintenance
Georg studied
Environmental Change and
Management at St Anne’s
College, 2008.
WHAT: Beyond my legal obligations as
managing director, I am responsible
for all financial matters as well as
strategy and post-merger integration.
In addition, I am leading one of
our three operating divisions. The
company is currently undergoing a
transformation from a family-owned,
ALUMNI PROFILE
fast-growing, medium-sized business into a
majority-owned subsidiary of a listed major
corporation.
WHY: To me, working in the “Green
Economy” sector is a matter of passion. One
of the advantages of a fast-growing and
young sector is that it creates opportunities
for quick career progression. On the
other hand, early responsibility creates a
challenge in defining clear limits between
work and home: take care to avoid
damaging your social life and health and
don’t calculate the hourly salary if you have
a 70-80 hour week!
CAREER PATH: I undertook several
internships (including the UN, journalism,
and election observation in the Ukraine),
mainly for two reasons: finding out what I
really wanted to do, and doing something
for the CV. Right after Oxford I joined Roland
Berger, a leading strategy consultancy. One
of the reasons for this was that they offered
me the opportunity to focus on renewable
ALUMNI PROFILE
energy right from the start, which
was most important to me. But to be
honest, part of this decision was the
fact that I didn’t really know what to
do, thus choosing a path to “keep all
options open”.
ADVICE:
]]
Attend careers events and
company presentations. I had no
clue where I would finally end up
- it was an event organised by the
Careers Service and McKinsey that
finally awakened my interest in
consultancy.
]]
I wish I had known how much I
would miss Oxford. It is a really
unique time in your life, so enjoy it
and make the most of it!
TOP TIP:
]]
Go with something that intrinsically
motivates you.
JENNA HOLDER
Renewable Energy Consultant
– OST Energy
ENERGY + THE ENVIRONMENT
WHAT: For the past eight months I
have been working for OST Energy,
a fast-growing renewable energy
consultancy. I am their PV module
specialist, which means I provide the
company with up-to-date knowledge
on PV modules on the market and
undertake technical reviews of this
technology. This may involve travelling
abroad to module factories (getting to
see the world on the way), attending
and organising seminars and
reviewing the latest scientific literature.
My DPhil has supported me in this
role twofold. Firstly, my research topics
facilitate my understanding of a range
of different technologies. Secondly, my
analytical and report-writing skills help
with most of my day-to-day tasks.
WHY: It’s an exciting time to be a
renewable energy consultant: you’re
in a perfect position to see how the
global renewables market is evolving.
I think the sector is suitable for anyone
who has a strong desire to help the world
reach its renewables potential and there
are openings for a variety of levels of
experience/ technical knowledge.
GETTING IN: Initially, I found it tough to
work out what jobs to apply for. Visiting the
Careers Service and seeking out similarlyminded
people were really useful in
helping me to understand possible career
options. I searched for a range of jobs after
completing my DPhil and found this one via
LinkedIn, which also advertises many other
similar job openings. It’s worth tracking
down the many sector-specific recruitment
consultants or job mailing lists. Most
importantly, be open to new job ideas!
For any scientists/ mathematicians/
engineers looking to join the renewables
sector, I recommend that you undertake
a project (final year, masters, PhD) in a
relevant area or, at least choose related
course modules.
Jenna studied Materials
Science at St. Anne’s
College, 2014.
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