Hey everyone i’m a Junior in college and want to break in energy trading(power or gas). I have previous energy industry internship experience. What do you guys think is a better place to start and have a career, a big energy generating company like constellation or commodity trading firms like gunvor or trafigura?
Hey everyone, I’m an undergrad double majoring in CS and financial economics at a non-target school, and I’m trying to figure out the best path to break into energy trading after graduation.
This coming summer, I’ll be interning at a large power generation company in natural gas structuring. The summer before, I did a portfolio operations internship (same company), so I have some exposure to the commercial/ops side of energy but am still early in figuring out where I fit long term.
My goal is to eventually move into a trading seat. I’m trying to understand which early-career path would give me the best shot:
Would it be better to start as a dispatcher / real-time power operator to build market intuition, asset knowledge, and real-time decision-making skills? Or would it be smarter to try to break in through the structuring team, given that it may be closer to origination, pricing, risk, and commercial strategy?
Also, for someone with my background — CS + financial econ, non-target, portfolio ops experience, and upcoming nat gas structuring experience — would you recommend trying to trade power or natural gas long term? I’m interested in both, but I’m trying to understand the tradeoffs. Power seems more physical, regional, and operationally complex, while nat gas seems more liquid, macro-driven, and potentially more connected to broader commodities trading.
Not sure which one has better entry-level opportunities or a clearer path from where I am now. Would really appreciate advice from anyone in energy trading, scheduling/dispatch, structuring, origination, risk, or commercial analytics.
What would you do in my position?