Celebrating Our Veterans: Sara Hayes of ACEEE Shares Her Experiences in the U.S. Army Reserves and How that Translated to a Career in Energy- [an Energy Central Power Perspectives™ Interview]

Sara Hayes had various jobs, including teaching outdoor school in the Pacific North West and weatherizing homes for a utility in Oregon, before joining the military as a mechanic for Chinook helicopters in the U.S. Army Reserves. She has a passion for the environment and is currently Director of Health and Environment, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), a nonprofit based in Washington DC.

After her military service she left to go to law school, after which she worked on a trading desk in Wall Street, then a boutique law firm that represented hedge funds. She is particularly proud of helping draft emissions trading proposals to Congress before she moved to the ACEEE, working on programs and policies for energy efficiency.

What are the skills the military teaches you? "The training for the military – this maybe goes without saying – creates a lot of adversity for you. And so, to be able to plow through in the face of that adversity, that's something they teach you. I think that is incredibly valuable." She also feels that implementing solutions practically in the field is also part of the military mindset. "Even though the military is very structured and hierarchical, it also requires people to solve real-world problems in practice, which is very different from having a meeting in an office and deciding on a plan for someone else to carry out."

A single mom of two young children, Sara has observed a shift in the industry during the last two decades. "Twenty years ago, it was very male-dominated, and I mostly encountered engineers. Since then, there have been many new academic disciplines, environmental studies, for example, many different qualifications and training courses that apply to this sector. The field has grown tremendously in terms of gender diversity. Which is a positive step forward."

How would she advise veterans looking to make a career in utilities? "I learned from hiring [staff], there's a whole bunch of experiences in the military that can be valuable and applicable and something that employers want to know about, but many employers don't have the knowledge to recognize how those skills translate in the civilian world. Military people need to figure out how to describe the skill set they have, how it applies to what the employer wants and connect those dots. Because outside of the military, employers often can't recognize how valuable these skills are." Essentially, veterans need to understand how their skills can be reapplied to civilian life so they can explain how these abilities will benefit a utility employer.