Switching into the renewable energy industry with the NUS MBA
How will an MBA change your career? Stanislav Borisov (Class of 2020) shares how he went into the NUS MBA programme with the intention of moving into the renewable energy industry, and how it helped him pivot careers afterwards.
Going green in Singapore
When Stanislav Borisov talks about his interest in renewables and innovation, he is discussing his future career path. But he could just as easily be talking about his own desire to reinvent himself.
Stanislav started his career in a number of energy roles across Europe, mainly in the oil and gas sector. When he decided he needed a change of direction in his career, he soon realised that an MBA would give him the exposure, contacts, and business acumen he needed to get a job in renewable energy.
“My idea behind going for an MBA programme was to make a switch and transition from traditional energy towards something more sustainable,” he shares.
Location is always an important factor when choosing your MBA, and for Stanislav, it was no different. In Singapore, he not only found a place with a lot of job opportunities, but also one with an excellent reputation for higher education. It proved to be the perfect combination for him.
“The choice was actually between two locations: the USA and Asia,” he says. “At that time I was really attracted to Singapore and I read some books about it. I had traveled to Singapore myself to see how it functions. What I saw was very attractive, both from an economic perspective and an education perspective.”
Finding a business school with a focus on green energy
When it came to choosing a business school in Singapore, the NUS Business School was an obvious attraction for Stanislav. But of greater interest to him were the school’s green credentials, and the emphasis they place on renewable energy.
“In this case, when I was looking at NUS’s profile, I found that they have this energy club within the MBA programme. That was a big attraction because many programmes have more generic clubs which aren’t very industry-specific,” he explains.
Equally important was Singapore’s links with the green economy. Stanislav found that the city-state’s connectivity with other Asian countries made it the perfect choice to launch his post-MBA career.
“There are energy companies in Singapore, but the best part is that the industry is not limited to only one country,” Stanislav states. “There is the whole region around it, and Singapore is a hub with a lot of headquarters located here. So it made sense for me.”
How to change career with an MBA
But how exactly does an MBA help you change careers? Although it can give you new skills, experience, and contacts, there are no guarantees. In Stanislav’s case, coming from a technical background in engineering, his MBA gave him the business knowledge he needed to break into a new industry and get a job in renewable energy.
“The good part about going for an MBA is that you get a broader picture – because you get this exposure – but at the same time, you’re also learning some new knowledge, especially for people who are coming from a technical background. So for people who didn’t properly study management or business, an MBA is a really good chance to pick up this knowledge,” he says.
“An MBA is a unique opportunity to explore different areas, and that’s what happened with me in the NUS MBA. When you start your programme, you’re getting exposure to so many industry events, networking opportunities, and company visits. So there’s a lot of exposure to companies and industries that you wouldn’t normally see. That was really eye-opening.”
Learning to focus on your strengths
Having so many possibilities out there can make it more difficult to choose the one that’s right for you. Stanislav admits that during the initial stages of his programme, he struggled to pursue one single career path. It left him unfocused and unsure of his next steps.
“What I didn’t realise is that when you’re getting exposure to different industries – consulting, finance, tech – then there is a lot of attraction. I see a lot of MBAs who are joining the programme, including myself, and we’re getting so excited at all these interesting opportunities. There are so many interesting jobs on the market that you might lose focus,” he explains.
In the end, though, Stanislav realised that it was more important to focus on his own strengths and align them with his career ambitions. This meant he was able to get a job in renewable energy by leveraging the opportunities presented to him in his MBA.
“For the first six to eight months of my programme, I was really exploring everything,” he shares. “Maybe I was a little lost to some extent because I was thinking maybe I need to change industries. Fortunately, after the first two semesters, I realised that I need to stick to my strengths and stick to what I know.”
This article is an adapted version of the original article, “Breaking into cleantech with an MBA” and is reproduced here with the kind permission of the publisher, MBAGRADSCHOOLS.
