Our July 14 Careers in Water and Energy webinar brought together professionals with varied career trajectories who share a common mission. Moderator Dan Pulver of Korn Ferry opened with a simple question: is this the career you imagined? Kimberly Long of Constellation said yes; she wanted to pursue environmental work since her teens. Eric Hahn of New Jersey American Water said no; he arrived with a less specific aspiration to make a meaningful contribution, then discovered an industry of unexpected depth. Adam Bosch of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYC DEP) said absolutely not; degrees in engineering, then journalism, gave him transferable skills he never expected to apply to water. All three landed on the same theme: purpose. Bosch framed it succinctly. The fundamental principle driving his team is providing an essential service and protecting the public health of the communities NYC DEP serves.
Opportunities Abound
One of the clearest takeaways was that jobs are opening rapidly. Bosch, who helps lead strategy for the nation’s largest municipal water supply, noted that roughly 1,200 people run the water system north of New York City. He expects roughly 400 openings there within five years. Retirements, also referred to as the Silver Tsunami, drive the wave. Every utility faces the same generational turnover, including water, electric, and telecom. His advice to career offices, students, and workforce boards was to go beyond an internet search and have a direct conversation; call the local utility and ask which roles will be most in demand over the next three to five years.
Water Careers are Multi-faceted
The panel dismantled the concept of there being a typical water career. Hahn listed lawyers, supply-chain specialists, engineers, safety experts, and high-tech field crews, an extensive team behind every glass of safe water. “We have scientists who evaluate new treatment technologies. We have government affairs and finance and water quality experts. And as Adam said, we have field operations people, and people calibrating and managing high-tech equipment. It all supports the need for safe, reliable drinking water.” And, he added, “that need for safe, reliable drinking water is never going away because if it does, we can’t sustain life as we know it. The challenge will get more intense due to retirements, emerging contaminants and evolving regulatory requirements. It is a career that is fulfilling and it is never going to go away.”
Bosch pointed to the instrumentation specialist, a role that barely existed twenty years ago, now among the most in demand positions. Entry points abound. For example, New York City’s watershed maintainers run control rooms, turn valves, and maintain grounds. Former watershed maintainers have advanced to leadership positions. Long talked about Constellation’s business analysts, as well as internships that offer a classic foot in the door.
How the Water Sector Uses AI
On AI, the panel struck a measured note. The water and energy sectors use AI for a range of tasks such as drafting, data analysis, and the predictive modeling of storms. But, nobody plans to hand AI the power to turn valves. Hahn put it memorably: a bad day at a Lego factory produces a misshapen brick you throw away; a bad day at a water company puts unsafe water in someone’s glass. The mission is critical and so is human oversight. Bosch discussed the importance of cyber security, and keeping critical control systems in human hands. Fieldwork, maintenance, compliance and sampling, in the panel’s view, are some of the roles that are AI-proof.
Curiosity and Courage
The panel all mentioned the value of curiosity and courage. Panelists urged attendees to ask genuine questions, observe respected colleagues, and build informal mentor networks. Long, who left the security of her clearly delineated career trajectory in state service (the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection) for a new opportunity in the private sector, offered the line of the afternoon, “a comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing grows there.” Pulver shared one of his guiding principles, “learn something new, get outside your comfort zone, every day.”
If you are interested in a new role, find someone doing the job and request to shadow that person. Identify the experience gaps and close them. Interns stand out, Hahn said, through hands-on experience and the ambition to ask what a task means for the whole system so you can do your work with an understanding of what is most important.
The Power of Communication
The panel emphasized the value of clear communication, between water and power providers and their customers, and amongst teams who make clean, reliable water and energy delivery possible.
“My projects,” said Long, “are all very cross-departmental. There’s engineering, finance, government affairs, communications, etc. For me, coming from a biological or environmental technical standpoint, I’m always trying to understand what it is they need to take away from the conversation. What is the ‘so what’, if you will, to them? How can I communicate this information so that they understand it?”
Bosch agreed. “Kimberly, you’ve hit on one of the main themes of my career, which is how do we take really complex ideas and communicate them in plain language?”
Long also mentioned an aspect of communication that is a bit more nuanced. “How can we approach interactions with empathy, trying to understand where the other person is coming from? Let me put myself in that person’s shoes so I understand what is important to them. I had a mentor who said, if the receiver of the message does not understand it, the person communicating the message did not communicate appropriately.”
Bottom Line
“There are so many types of positions, and a variety of different swim lanes and career paths you can go down,” said Hahn. “There are a lot of openings and there’s even more coming.”
Learn more about our panel here.
Have ideas about how WRA can share information about careers in water and water dependent sectors in a clear, meaningful way? Get in touch! ed@wradrb.org