Our Stories

Renewing His Skill Set for Renewable Energy

Vanderbilt gave Robert Bray a direct route into the unique career he wanted

Robert Bray
Senior Product Manager, Procore Technologies

Vanderbilt MS Finance 2015

Unlike many MSF students, Robert Bray knew exactly where he wanted to take his career. He just wasn?t sure how to get there. Robert, who spent two years with a New Orleans boutique management consulting firm after graduating from Tulane, wanted to be involved in financial services in the field of clean energy. ?My aspiration is to focus on financial innovation in the renewable energy space in order to make technologies like solar energy financially sustainable in the long term.? One of the factors that drew Robert to Vanderbilt was the Career Management Center. ?After visiting, it became clear to me that the school offered very individualized, focused career guidance from people who really knew what they were doing,? says Robert, an avid hiker and reader. ?I saw this as an invaluable resource no other program came close to offering.? Still, Robert assumed that he would be able to pursue his highly specific career interest in renewable energy only after he had gained other, more general experiences. He was pleasantly surprised. ?Through the Owen network, I was introduced to a company that does precisely what I was interested in doing ? a young, rapidly growing financial technology company in the clean tech space in New York,? says Robert. He landed a job there after graduation, and then earned a promotion just six months later. ?Owen has allowed me to immediately pursue what I am passionate about. Had I been anywhere else but here, I do not think I would have been introduced to the same people and presented with the same opportunities.?

Fun Fact: During his senior year in college, Robert interned with the political pundits James Carville and Mary Matalin.

Had I been anywhere else but here, I do not think I would have been introduced to the same people and presented with the same opportunities.