How To Become An Energy Trader: What It Is and Career Path

What is an energy trader and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an energy trader. For example, did you know that they make an average of $55.21 an hour? That's $114,844 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 10% and produce 47,700 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreEnergy TraderUS Average

Salary

8.0

Avg. Salary $114,844

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.3

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

7.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.38%

Asian 5.74%

Black or African American 7.11%

Hispanic or Latino 15.23%

Unknown 4.09%

White 67.44%

Gender

female 10.45%

male 89.55%

Age - 44

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 44

Stress level

7.3

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.3

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.8

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an energy trader

Explore energy trader education requirements

Most common energy trader degrees

Bachelor's

78.7 %

Master's

18.1 %

Doctorate

1.6 %

Start to develop specific energy trader skills

Skills	Percentages
Algorithmic Trading	13.87%
Renewable Energy	11.94%
Financial Instruments	11.16%
NERC	8.01%
ISO	5.89%

Complete relevant energy trader training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New energy traders learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an energy trader based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real energy trader resumes.

Research energy trader duties and responsibilities

Manage business, sales, marketing, international negotiation and communication for a commodities business.
Automate the trade allocation and reconciliation procedures using VBA programming which is leveraged to systematically detect any trade breaks or discrepancies.
Integrate into an existing trading pit on the CBOE, illustrating success in new, challenging work environments.

Prepare your energy trader resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your energy trader resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an energy trader resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable energy trader resume templates

Build a professional energy trader resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your energy trader resume.