[Smart Grid Market Research] Smart Grid Hiring Trends Study (Part 2 of 2)- Zpryme Smart Grid Insights

Executive Summary Definitions

Qualification requirements for employment in the Smart • New Hire: A candidate who has no previous work
Grid sector are rigorous, with many employers seeking experience (outside internships).
candidates with advanced degrees, a host of ancillary
certifications and highly specialized work experience. • Experienced New Hire: A candidate who has
Those meeting these stringent standards are becoming a previous relevant work experience.
coveted group of highly sought after hires, and the cost of
recruiting them is on the rise, as evidenced by increasing Key Findings
salaries and a more widespread use of hiring bonuses.

1.
Understanding the inherent challenges in recruiting and
retaining this elusive group, some employers are beginning
to tap into the new graduate pool of Smart Grid hopefuls. Eighty-two percent of hiring managers indicated
However, this strategy is not without its roadblocks, as that new hires required at least a Bachelor’s degree to fill
comprehensive, Smart Grid curricula that incorporates the Smart Grid roles, 40% required a Master’s degree, and 27%
hands-on experience needed to fully develop a required some type of additional Certification.

2.
candidate’s skills is far from prolific.

This report, outlining the findings of an inaugural study The required majors for Bachelor’s degrees were
conducted by Zpryme and Smart Grid Careers, provides most often electrical engineering, computer
science/engineering, and business. Master degree major
potential Smart Grid candidates with the detailed data
requirements were the same: electrical engineering,
they need to understand what it takes to break into
and/or advance their career in this dynamic industry computer science/engineering, and business.
Certifications most often mentioned were Smart Grid,
sector.
Utility/GIS, Renewable Engineering, PMP, PJM, CE, Cyber
Security, IT, and Communications.
Methodology

The Smart Grid Hiring Trends 2012 study was conducted by
surveying 184 Smart Grid hiring managers and executives
3. The top three additional skill requirements for new
hires were analytical skills, problem-solving skills, and
in June 2012. Only one response per company was
attention to detail. When asked to rank all additional skills,
allowed for the study. Only U.S.-based executives and
the highest scores were given to: analytical skills and
managers who played a role in making hiring decisions for
problem-solving skills (first-place tie), and being a team
Smart Grid-related roles at their respective companies
player.
were allowed to respond to the survey.

3 www.zpryme.com | www.smartgridresearch.org | www.smartgridcareers.com Smart Grid Hiring Trends Study (part 2 of 2) | August 2012

Copyright © 2012 Zpryme Research & Consulting, LLC All rights reserved. | Brought to you by Zpryme & SmartGridCareers.com

4.
to: problem-solving skills, being a team player, and
analytical skills.
Among experienced new hires, the top three
demonstrated skill requirements beyond academic
requirements were: project management, consulting
experience, and supervisory/management experience.

5. Years of experience that were needed by a
successful experienced new hire were most often four to
five years (47%).

6. Eighty-nine percent of hiring managers indicated
that experienced new hires required at least a Bachelor’s
degree to fill Smart Grid roles, 49% required a Master’s
degree, and 34% required some type of additional
Certification. See pages 5 – 17 to learn more.

7. Among experienced new hires, the required majors
for bachelor’s degrees were most often electrical
engineering, business, and computer science
/engineering. Master degree major requirements were the
same: electrical engineering, business, and engineering.
Certifications most often mentioned were PMP, PMI, CEM,
Networks and Controls Systems, and Power Domain.

8. The top three additional skill requirements for
experienced new hires were analytical skills, problem-
solving skills, and good oral communication. When asked
to rank all additional skills, the highest scores were given



Survey Respondent Characteristics Job Title

Company Size The titles of those managers who responded were (in
descending order of frequency): Director (39%); Manager
Forty-one percent of hiring managers said they worked for (26%); Vice President (13%); CEO (9%); President (7%); and
companies with 1 to 100 employees, 16% worked for Consultant (6%).
companies with 101 to 500 employees, 6% worked for
companies with 501 to 1,000 employees, and the Percent of Respondents by Job Title
remaining 37% said they worked for companies with 1,000 (figure 2, source: Zpryme & SmartGridCareers.com)
or more employees.

Percent of Respondents by Number of
Employees in Their Company
Manager,
(figure 1, source: Zpryme & SmartGridCareers.com)
26%
Director,
39%
Consultant,
6%
1,000 or
more, 37% 1 to 100, 41% Vice
President,
13%
President,
CEO, 9%
7%
101 to 500,
16%
501 to 1,000,
6%



Type of Smart Grid Employees Hired Sectors Served by Respondents

About half (49%) of the hiring managers in the study said The hiring managers in the study represented 25 Smart Grid
their company only hired experienced new hires with sectors. Sectors with the largest representation in the study
previous work experience. The other half (51%) said they were AMI, distribution automation, demand response,
hired both new hires without previous work experience utility systems, meter data management, network
(outside internships) AND experienced new hires with management, communications, and utility operations.
previous work experience.
Sectors Served by Respondents
(table 1, source: Zpryme & SmartGridCareers.com)
What Type of Smart Grid Employees
Does Your Company Hire Sector % of Respondents
(figure 3, source: Zpryme & SmartGridCareers.com) AMI 62%
Appliances 16%
Battery technologies 19%
(BAN/HAN), energy management systems 36%
Only New Hires Community Energy Storage (CES) 22%
Experienced without Chips 4%
New Hires previous Communication (HW/SW/Control) 44%
with work Consumer advocacy 18%
previous experience Demand response 59%
work AND Distributed automation: communications and software 61%
experience, Experienced
Distributed automation: hardware and sensors 47%
49% New Hires,
Distributed generation and storage 33%
51%
Electric vehicle technologies 30%
FAN 10%
GIS 29%
Greentech: PV solar, storage 23%
HVAC and building control systems 22%
LAN 27%
Meter data management (MDM) 47%
NAN 20%
Network management 47%
Security 42%
Smart meter manufacturers 32%
Utility operations 43%
Utility systems development/integration and consulting 50%



Academic Requirements and Skills for New Hires solving-skills (first-place tie), and being a team
player.
Overall, hiring managers indicated that the large majority
of their new hires are required to have a Bachelor’s What Are Your Academic/Certification
Requirements for New Hires?
degree. Analytical and problem skills were the top two
most desired additional skills required for new hires.

Academic and Certification Requirements Bachelor’s degree 82%

• Eighty-two percent of hiring managers indicated
that new hires required at least a Bachelor’s degree Master’s degree 40%
to fill Smart Grid roles, 40% required a Master’s
degree, and 27% required some type of additional
Certification 27%
Certification.

• The required majors for Bachelor’s degrees were Other 22%
most often electrical engineering (11%), computer
science/engineering (5%), and business (3%). Master 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
degree major requirements were the same:
electrical engineering (5%), computer
science/engineering (2%), and business (2%).
Certifications most often mentioned were Smart
Grid, Utility/GIS, Renewable Engineering, PMP, PJM,
CE, Cyber Security, IT, and Communications.

Additional Skills Required

• The top three additional skill requirements for new
hires were analytical skills, problem-solving skills, and
attention to detail.

• When asked to rank all additional skills, the highest
scores were given to: analytical skills and problem



What Additional Skills are Required for New Hires?

Analytical skills 87%
Problem-solving skills 86%
Attention to detail 80%
Good computer skills 75%
Good written communication 71%
Good oral communication 71%
Team player 69%
Taking initiative 62%
Interpersonal skills 58%
Customer focus/service skills 51%
Business acumen/insights 51%
Stress tolerance 35%
Sales ability 26%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Ranking of Additional Skills for new hires?
% Who Said Skill Was Most Important

Team player 43%
Customer focus/service skills 22%
Sales ability 12%
0% 20% 40% 60%



Academic Requirements and Skills for • When asked to rank all additional skills, the highest
Experienced New Hires scores were given to: problem-solving skills, being a
team player, and analytical skills.
Overall, hiring managers indicated that the large majority
of experienced new hires are required to have a
What Are Your Academic/Certification
Bachelor’s degree, while just under half require a Master’s
Requirements for Experienced New Hires?
degree. Analytical and problem skills were the top two (figure 7, source: Zpryme & SmartGridCareers.com)
most desired additional skills required by experienced new
hires.
Bachelor’s degree 89%
Academic and Certification Requirements

• Eighty-nine percent of hiring managers indicated Master’s degree 49%
that experienced new hires required at least a
Bachelor’s degree to fill Smart Grid roles, 49%
Certification 34%
required a Master’s degree, and 34% required some
sort of additional Certification.
Other 14%
• The required majors for Bachelor’s degrees were
most often electrical engineering (33%), business
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
(8%), and computer science/engineering (4%).
Master degree major requirements were the same:
electrical engineering (9%), business (8%), and
engineering (general) (3%). Certifications most often
mentioned were PMP, PMI, CEM, Networks and
Controls Systems, and Power Domain.

Additional Skills Required

• The top three additional skill requirements for
experienced new hires were analytical skills,
problem-solving skills, and good oral
communication.



What Additional Skills are Required for Demonstrated Skills Required
Experienced New Hires?
• The top three demonstrated skill requirements
beyond academic requirements were: project
management (72%), consulting experience (63%),
and supervisory/management experience (53%).
Team player 75%
Years of Relevant Experience Required
• Years of experience that were needed by a
successful experienced new hire were most often
67%
four to five years (47%). The second most frequent
Customer focus/service skills
experience requirement was six to 10 years (26%).
What Demonstrated Skill Sets are Required for
Sales ability 47% Experienced New Hires?
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% (figure 10, source: Zpryme & SmartGridCareers.com)
Ranking of Additional Skills for Experienced New Hires? Project management 72%
% Who Said Skill Was Most Important
(figure 9, source: Zpryme & SmartGridCareers.com) Consulting experience 63%
Team player 52% Management experience 53%
Software development 43%
Good oral communication 45% Software testing 34%
Customer focus/service skills 38% Hardware development 24%
Hardware testing 23%
Interpersonal skills 34% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Sales ability 18%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%



How Many Years of Relevant Experience are Required
for Experienced New Hires?

Over 10, 8% 1, 4%

2 – 3, 15%

6 – 10, 26%

4 – 5, 47%



Conclusions & Recommendations universities has virtually stagnated, engineers of all
types are in high demand across a wide variety of
1. Collegiate Smart Grid Hopefuls: Adopt the 6-to-8 industries. However, engineers pursuing a career in
Year Plan the Smart Grid can expect to earn up to twenty
percent more than their counterparts in other
College students can increase their odds of industries.
successfully landing a career in the Smart Grid by
pursuing a Master’s degree immediately following 4. Going Above and Beyond: Laser-Focused Specialty
the completion of their Bachelor’s degree. Forty Certification and Training
percent of Smart Grid hiring managers require this
additional education before they will even consider Hiring managers surveyed in this study listed a wide
a candidate without work experience. variety of additional certifications and specialty
training on their “must have” list for evaluating
2. Working Bachelors: Go Back to School potential hires. However, the question is where can
a candidate get this training? Unfortunately, at this
Candidates who have already joined the workforce early stage in curricula development, there isn’t a
can open the door to incremental opportunities by national clearinghouse that offers a comprehensive
pursuing a higher level of education. Forty-nine list of available training and/or educational
percent of hiring managers are looking for a offerings. Candidates can start by researching the
Master’s degree when seeking to bring on an programs funded by the DOE for Smart Grid
experienced new hire. workforce training and development. Subsequent
reports conducted by Zpryme and
3. Degree of Choice? Engineering, Engineering, SmartGridCareers.com will take a deeper dive into
Engineering! the educational programs that are successfully
producing candidates with the specialty training
It should come as no surprise that most Smart Grid desired in this sector.
roles require some sort of engineering background.
It’s also no secret that electrical and computer 5. Honing Important Skills: The Importance of Seeking
engineering knowledge is crucial to the Applicable Work Experience
development of Smart Grid technologies. Both new
graduates and those already in the workforce will Hiring managers sent a very clear message
need this background to sustain successful careers regarding the importance of analytical and
in this sector. As the number of engineering problem solving skills for both new and experienced
graduates being turned out by U.S. colleges and Smart Grid hires. Candidates of all types should seek



out opportunities to hone these skills by pursuing
internships and/or permanent roles where these skills
can be exercised and developed.

For those already in the workforce, hiring managers
listed project management, consulting and
management experience on their top three list for
the most sought after demonstrated skill sets.

Why? Project management skills are crucial in
industries where new technologies are being
developed at a very rapid pace, especially in
industry segments where competition is prolific.
These skills are also vital when there is a need to
manage transformational change. The Smart Grid
sector qualifies on both accounts. As for consulting
experience, the desire for this skill set reflects the
industry’s need to understand the full breadth of
available technologies and their relevant
applications. It’s the only way to stay ahead of the
competition. The need for management skills is a
good indication of future growth. Whether achieved
organically, by raising capital or through acquisition,
Smart Grid technology vendors are supporting their
growth plans by adding human resources…offering
both new and experienced hires limitless
opportunity.



Q&A: Echelon
Jeff Lund
VP of Business Development
www.echelon.com

ZP: How should current university students be preparing for
a career that works closely with the Smart Grid?

JL: The smart grid is a very broad industry, with
opportunities for student with both technical and
business backgrounds. On the technical side, it is
important for young engineers to understand more
about the nature of the electric grid. The more
they understand what “makes the grid tick”, the
better prepared they will be to invent the new
technologies needed to make the grid smarter
and more efficient. Likewise for students interested
in the business side of the smart grid, the more they
understand about the market structure and
economics of the smart grid, the better prepared
they will be to construct business cases, devise
product plans, and explain the benefits to
regulators , consumers, and utilities.

ZP: Do you foresee hiring for Smart Grid roles continuing to
increase in 2013?

JL: We believe it will remain the same.



Q&A: Itron
renewables, storage, etc.) shape the next phase of
energy distribution and management.
Tim Wolf
Director of Smart Grid Solutions
www.itron.com


TW: The smart grid transcends traditional organizational
silos in utilities and fundamentally transforms the utility-
customer relationship, and as a result, new skill sets and
competencies will be required to successfully build,
integrate and operate the modern grid. While
traditional power engineering skills will still be in
demand, increasing focus and value will be placed on
IT-centered skills around system design, architecture,
security and data management. In addition, innovative
business, communication and collaboration skills will be
critical to assuring cross-functional success. The ability
to define new business processes, communicate and
coordinate will be every bit as important to success in a
smart grid world as engineering skills. University students
should seek internships within the field during the
summertime and stay on top of current events by
joining different groups representing the smart grid.

increase in 2013?

TW: Yes, as there will always be the need to keep up
with new technologies as advancements in smart grid
applications and assets (e.g. distribution automation,



Q&A: S&C Electric Company
increase in 2013?
Wanda Reder
VP of Power Systems Services WR: Absolutely. There has been a forecast of upwards
www.sandc.com of 50% of the power industry workforce to leave in the
coming years. Some of this workforce has decided to
ZP: How should current university students be preparing for stay longer due to economy, but they will eventually
a career that works closely with the Smart Grid? want to retire and move on. This will leave a big hole
in technical talent unless we begin hiring and training a
WR: Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the Smart new generation of engineers today. Smart Grid jobs
Grid, students should be taking power engineering are here, and they are here to stay. The hiring for these
classes and seeking to diversify their educational Smart Grid jobs is happening and will continue to
experience to gain knowledge in power electronics, increase in the future.
renewables, communications, cyber security,
environment, consumer behavior and networking
which all play into the Smart Grid. They should also
participate in internships to augment their classroom
work with real world experience and access to the
latest technologies.

Students should also participate in industry
organizations like IEEE where Smart Grid advancements
are featured at conferences, highlighted through social
media, featured on web-sites (eg.
http://smartgrid.ieee.org/) and discussed in peer-
reviewed publications. In doing so, students gain a
broader perspective of the industry, develop a
professional network, stay in touch with technical
advancements, and develop an understanding of
career opportunities. Finally, www.pes-careers.org is a
great tool for power engineering students both in
school and up to one year out of school to find and
apply for Smart Grid-related jobs in the US and
Canada.



Q&A: Siemens
Siemens Smart Grid Division
www.siemens.com


Siemens: Engineering degrees with focus on power
systems, plus IT courses, software development and
knowledge of the electrical grid - Masters
preferred.

increase in 2013?

Siemens: We see it as a global megatrend. The
political, economic global climate will affect this
positively and negatively but mostly agree the
need for efficient and smart creation and
consumption of electrical power is more critical
every day which means the need for talent will
continue far into the future. What an
exciting industry to be in!



About Zpryme Smart Grid Insights Practice:

Zpryme-powered Smart Grid Insight Practice (link) and our Smart Grid
Insights Advisory Board (link) help organizations understand their
business environment, engage consumers, inspire innovation, and
take action. These practices represent an evolution beyond traditional
market research and consulting: combining sound fundamentals,
innovative tools and methodologies, industry experience, and
creative marketing savvy to supercharge clients’ success. At Zpryme,
we don’t produce tables and charts; we deliver opportunity-focused,
actionable insight that is both engaging and easy-to-digest. For more
information regarding our custom research, visit: www.zpryme.com.

Zpryme Smart Grid Insights Contact:
smart.grid@zpryme.com | +1 888.ZPRYME.1 (+1 888.977.9631)
www.smartgridresearch.org (Zpryme Smart Grid Insights)
www.zpryme.com (Zpryme Main Website)
Contributors:
About SmartGridCareers.com:
Echelon (Jeff Lund, VP of Business Development)
Itron (Tim Wolf, Director of Smart Grid Solutions)
SmartGridCareers.com is a niche recruiting firm offering a S&C Electric Company (Wanda Reder, VP of Power Systems Services)
comprehensive suite of human resources solutions to the Smart Grid Siemens (Siemens Smart Grid Division)
industry. Leveraging a powerful combination of experience, expertise
and cutting-edge technology, SmartGridCareers.com has established Disclaimer:
a proven track record of pinpointing candidates with the emerging
skill sets required by the Smart Grid and Renewable Energy sectors. For These materials and the information contained herein are provided by Zpryme Research & Consulting, LLC and are
intended to provide general information on a particular subject or subjects and is not an exhaustive treatment of
more information, visit: www.smartgridcareers.com. such subject(s). Accordingly, the information in these materials is not intended to constitute accounting, tax, legal,
investment, consulting or other professional advice or services. The information is not intended to be relied upon as
the sole basis for any decision which may affect you or your business. Before making any decision or taking any
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Editor Managing Editor Research Lead LLC expressly disclaims all implied warranties, including, without limitation, warranties of merchantability, title, fitness
for a particular purpose, noninfringement, compatibility, security, and accuracy. Prediction of future events is
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[Smart Grid Market Research] Smart Grid Hiring Trends Study (Part 2 of 2)- Zpryme Smart Grid Insights

[Smart Grid Market Research] Smart Grid Hiring Trends Study (Part 2 of 2)- Zpryme Smart Grid Insights

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