- Aaron Nichols obtained licensed in photo voltaic set up a 12 months in the past when he was uncertain of his profession path.
- Now he has a job in gross sales for a photo voltaic firm that provides flexibility and profession mobility.
- This article is a part of the “Betting Trends in Your Career,” a collection about trending skilled alternatives.
This as-told-to essay is predicated on a dialog with Aaron Nichols, Exact Solar’s advertising and marketing and advocacy specialist. The following has been edited for size and readability.
My profession has been the wildest experience ever since I obtained my photo voltaic set up coaching only a 12 months in the past.
I began my profession in schooling and was not pleased with that path. So I took a while off to journey after the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic and supplemented my earnings with a door-to-door solar-sales job, which I obtained by means of some individuals I knew. -an in my journey.
When I got here again from touring, I did not know what I needed to do for work, and I believed that photo voltaic set up might be an attention-grabbing profession path. I went by means of a six-week coaching program with a company known as Grid Alternatives, the place I used to be paid a stipend primarily based on my earnings stage to grow to be licensed by the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners.
I graduated in May 2023 and, after a summer season job touring to Alaska to do academic applications, started searching for work within the photo voltaic business within the fall.
I’m at the moment the gross sales and advocacy specialist for a big photo voltaic set up firm, Exact Solar. Coming from the instructing and non-profit world and – a 12 months later – being at this level in my profession is wonderful.
My photo voltaic set up coaching helped me stand out
When I began searching for work within the photo voltaic business, I utilized for some installer jobs and sales-side jobs, and I began advertising and marketing myself on Upwork as a copywriting marketing consultant to make some fast cash.
Nichols stated he’s enthusiastic about his profession trajectory within the photo voltaic business. Courtesy of Aaron Nichols
Surprisingly, the consulting job got here rapidly, earlier than I obtained a extra conventional job. The undeniable fact that I’ve installer certification makes shoppers within the photo voltaic business particularly wanting to work with me on the advertising and marketing facet. The technical information I deliver has benefited my work and helped me land thrilling shoppers corresponding to SunCast Media, who run one of the well-liked podcasts within the business, and Exact Solar, who in the end provided me full-time job.
In a pleasant coincidence, a part of my job now could be to design a curriculum for a workforce coaching program and assist develop photo voltaic installations that we put in faculties; so my instructing and nonprofit expertise ended up becoming into the puzzle of my photo voltaic profession.
There are many areas the place you may add worth. The photo voltaic business wants all the things that another business wants, and is rising very quick. Anyone who’s in finance, promoting, or another business and is struggling ought to take into account making use of their expertise to the photo voltaic business as a result of it’s a a lot larger world than you suppose.
I benefit from the freedom and the promise of the business
I actually benefit from the flexibility this job gives me. My wage is nice, and since I work remotely, I moved to a farmhouse on 5 acres of land with my boyfriend and constructed a photo voltaic system to energy our cell booster. I can reside within the woods and take an archery break in the course of the day.
When I envision the way forward for my photo voltaic profession, it looks like the sky is the restrict. It’s a tight-knit neighborhood, so if individuals, it is simple to get referral work in the event you’re a contractor or begin connecting with individuals at a excessive stage that is onerous to succeed in in different industries.
It can be a financially worthwhile profession. It’s not simply hippies hugging timber and making an attempt to save lots of the world — there’s a number of personal business cash coming in. I actually like the concept that I could make good cash, work a versatile job, and be ok with my impression on the planet .
