Meteorologist help please??

Question

OK, I've always loved weather and I looked up the job of meteorology and the facts were that it takes many years of college... works 7 days a week... works on holidays... and is under pressure to meet the forecast deadline. It was all so negative.... is it really that bad a job....? If you are or have been or know anything about the job please answer.

Answer 1

I have worked for the National Weather Service for almost 20 years now and shift work is one of the hardest parts of getting use to the job. My father was a fireman when I was a kid, so I grew up with the idea of a non-tradidtional work week. he then became a school teacher and we had the summers off together! Someone has to work Christmas, though and depending on the office, you will probably have to work one every few years (unless someone in the office prefers to work them and volunteers to cover your shift). It can be difficult to have outside interests and scheduled activities since you are seldomly not available to make commitments (I'd like to teach Sunday School at church, but I work one Sunday a month).
The hardest part of shift work is the continual changing of the biological clock, ie. working days one week, midnights the next, and then evenings the next week. There are proven health risks associated with this pattern of work that are not fully compensated for with the extra 10% pay for overnight shift hours (Sundays are 25% bonus pay). Some agencies have a 20 year retirement plan (like cops and air traffic controllers), but Weather Service employees do not have that yet (it'll be hard to get, but there is always a chance :} ). Thirty years of rotating through all those time periods are hard on the body.
Pay is OK, especially if you can land a Lead Forecaster job, but you may have to go to a far-off small town to get one. The more populated centers have only a few openings, so don't plan on living near your parents after landing the job. Most non-forecasting jobs are located in Silver Spring, Maryland and the regional centers are on Long Island (NY), Salt Lake City, Fort Worth, Kansas City, and Anchorage, AK.
Divorce rate is higher than normal for Weather Service employees (but not grossly higher) and many of the employees are single (either do to personality or the problems of dating on a non-traditional work schedule). Most of the workforce is male (many older employees had military backgrounds, especially from the Vietnam War, so they are mostly men), but this is slowly changing. With the college rate of over 55% female, the demographic is bound to shift with time. The biggest problem with maintaining women in the main forecaster role is shift work and the starting of families. There is no guarantee of being shifted to a non-rotational shift job when you have a child and trying to keep a child on a "schedule" when you do not have one yourself can be very difficult. It has been done, but it is very hard to pull off.
One last note, the private sector is usually worse (you have civil servant protections in the Weather Service) though the initial pay can be slightly better. The problem is the lack of job promotion potential. Many private sector employees join the weather service if given the opportunity. They do provide a valuable service, but I have not gotten a lot of good feedback from the employees I have met. Some even require you to sign contacts for multiple years that are hard to break if you find something better. Be careful about that if you go the private route. TV is a very tough business to crack as well. I saw an entire newsroom get fired one by one because a new owner took over and wanted to cut salary expenditures (while I was an unpaid intern during college).
Hope I have not scared you off, it is a rewarding/frustrating/exciting at times career, but better to know what you are getting into before spending a lot of money and time to get something you decide is just not for you and you have to try something else in a related field (applied physics pays much better and requires a lot of the same coursework!).

Answer 2

It's not a bad job. It will require at least a 4 year degree in meteorology for a decent job. You will need to work weekends and odd shifts, but not usually 7 days in a row, and you will probably be paid more for working those late night shifts and you will get time off when everybody else is working. You have to meet a forecast deadline, but making forecasts is part of the fun of the job. A friend of mine is a lead forecaster for the National Weather Service, and he seems to really enjoy his job.

Answer 3

im in college for meteorology for right now. While I can answer about the actual job itself, I can say its a lot of work Lots of math and science. You really have to be dedicated to it. This isnt something you just decided to chose out of a list of majors. Everyone I have talked who is also in the major have background interest in the area (for example, Ive been interested in the subject since 4th grade, which is not unusual for a lot of the other students). Now, im not saying dont go for it, because i LOVE it. Its gratifying and the people you will go to school with also love weather, so you dont feel quite so dorky when you get excited about an "approaching storm" or that "tower cumulonimbus cloud you saw". Haha. The work is worth it in the end. Lots of math, chem physics and, depending on what field of meteorology you want to go into, computers, communication, specailities, and technology. But its fun, and people alway look at you with a little bit of respect when you say "yeah, Im majoring meteorology".

Good luck!

Answer 4

Ok, I can't personally answer about Meteorology but if you find a job/career that you really love, the hours and days and pressure will not matter to you. Doctors work crazy hours for years and years as interns but they do it because they love their jobs. I am a computer programmer and work 12 hour days, sometimes 6-7 days a week but I like it because I like my job. If you find you have a passion for Meteorology, all those "bad" things you have read about won't matter.

Answer 5

If you don't like studying math/physics for years you can still work in the field. literally! Meteorology is the most fascinating and awesome profession to be in. Well, for one thing it is your job to go outside a lot and observe (stare at the sky). You can even create your own meteorology station at home (with the proper weather instruments and computer). Yes, there is a lot more complex math and physics to study in college because of all the variables in this system and they change constantly. Math is amazingly awesome the higher up you go.