Balancing the stresses of a first or second job, settling into a new city or country in unfamiliar living conditions, might be all too much for many young professionals.

But some have found that by taking on an additional activity that at first sight might seem unexpected – volunteering for a professional association – they have gained work-related insight, new contacts and even a group of ready-made friends.

It was particularly the latter for Karolina Zieba AMEI, now the Vice-Chair of Community Partnerships for the London YPN (her day job is Offshore Wind Associate at the Carbon Trust). She recalls her situation before joining the London YPN: ‘I moved to London for my job and it was the first time as an adult that I had to make friends, which was hard.’

It was this or competitive sport, she added, for active people like her looking to do something in the evenings after work (although she adds that it is possible to do both).

Her enthusiasm led her to take an officer role (definitely not a requirement of joining the association). Reflecting on her personal case, she says: ‘I like the committee, I like the community, I like taking initiative. You can really make of it what you want. If you put the work in, you won’t find any barriers.’

Nicolas Manea started attending YPN events while still a student at Cardiff University. Now Vice President of the South Western and South Wales YPN (while working full time as Distributed Flexibility Strategy Lead at NESO), he remembered what attracted him initially was learning about a different side of energy to what came up in the classroom. ‘At university, if a classmate had asked me to differentiate between a DNO and a supplier, I couldn’t [have].’

‘But having an environment like the YPN, if you give us that hour of your time, you will get insight equal to many hours of learning. Maybe the information you gathered in the first meeting doesn’t make much sense now, but if you go back to the second meeting, and you continuously engage with us, you will realise that after some time you will know a lot about the energy sector,’ he adds.

Today, Nicolas frames attending a YPN event in terms of ‘training’ his curiosity while always keeping the conversation going. That means prioritising listening to an energy podcast, watching an energy related YouTube video, or catching up with an energy friend instead of watching television in the evening.

A further advantage of the meetings is the opportunity for interaction. ‘We have a topic, followed by a conversation and a debate about a subject where we all have complementary expertise. I don’t think any one person knows from beginning to end exactly how reaching net zero is going to play out. Scarier than not knowing the pathway is not talking about it. And this is what we do at YPN, we are learning from each other, and we always keep the conversation going.’

It was the potential to meet like-minded people that attracted Marta Oliveira to the London YPN. She now Chairs it, alongside her work as a Senior Associate at Ikigai Capital. She says: ‘I have a good network from my masters [degree]. But I felt I needed more. The industry is so dynamic. I meet investors, people across the value chain, truck drivers, but I rarely meet YPs [young professionals]. It’s usually senior people.’

She continues: ‘I wanted more exposure to friends in industry. I wanted other people who I could ask for help if I had an issue. My focus is on delivering bankable net zero solutions to infrastructure asset owners (airports, ports water/waste, etc). I don’t have a specialism in any particular energy technology, I don’t understand everything about batteries, or solar, or carbon capture. I wanted to have a network of specialists with technical, regulatory and investment perspectives to jointly deliver successful projects.’

‘People who I know invited me 2–3 years ago, and when I started there, I thought, this is exactly what I want. It’s a very good community; the best possible mix between slightly geeky and slightly friendly. I can get so much from areas I don’t necessarily work in because of the experts and events that we put together.’

The Energy Institute Young Professionals Network has 10 branches around the UK, and three in the world (Africa, Middle East, Asia-Pacific). To get involved, go to https://www.energyinst.org/ei-near-me

• Further reading: ‘How young talent can transform the energy sector from the inside out’. Dugald McIntosh, Energy & Utilities Practice Director at Grayce, suggests that the employment of enthusiastic Generation Z people into energy industry workforces is an essential part of both success for the company and the achievement of sustainability targets.
• Find out more about the generation of young professionals that will lead Brazil’s energy sector.