How are the meteorologist jobs?

Working for the National Weather Service?

• I graduated in 2009 with a degree in meteorology and I've been applying to every job that I'm qualified for and still have not landed that entry level position with the National Weather Service. I understand that it is competitive but I have an internship with the NWS and an internship with a TV station working for the Chief Meteorologist there and good grades. I expected it to be hard but with my grades and two internships I really expected to have gotten a job at this point. Is the economy really that bad right now? Is there anything I can do to break into that magical status where the NWS might think I'm worth hiring? I think maybe I'm not "stretching" the truth enough on the questionaire or selling myself short. A television meteorologist is currently working with me to improve my skills in front of a camera, and I've been applying for the private sector jobs so I'm not picky at this point but I really felt I had put together a good deal for employment with the NWS. Does the rough economy have anything at all to do with it? If there are others with degrees in meteorology and haven't been able to get a job, what are you doing now? I work at a restaurant and I don't hate my job but I did go to school for a reason. It's pretty soul-destroying getting notified time and again that you didn't get the job.

• Answer:

  First, let me clear up some facts, The university that you got your degree in does not matter for an entry level position with the NWS. As long as you have passed all the required classes for that position, your application will be forwarded past the first round of selection. Make sure all of the classes you have taken have met all of educational background needed for that position. A master degree or higher will increase your chances of getting a position with the NWS, but it is not required. There are still people being hired for entry level positions that have only a B.S. Degree. Now, having an internship with the NWS should give a huge advantage over most applicants, even if most of the other applicants that may also have advanced degree. The key is as long as you did well during your internship, you should make it through the early rounds of the selection process. As a matter of fact, a few interns would usually be offered an entry level position at the end of their internship if their work was really impressive to the MIC. So if you had done an outstanding job during your internship, you could have gotten an offer without ever applying and competing for a entry level position. However, having an internship should still have given you a big edge over the others who don’t have any internship experience and even those who have a master degree. The only candidates that you will likely not be able to beat out are those who are military veterans. By federal law, a military veteran who is qualified for a federal position has higher priority to any open position that was not filled by any intern that was offered that entry level position before it was advertised for bidding. The first thing you should do is to look over your application and to make sure it is correctly filled out and make changes if needed. If you make it far enough to be interviewed, you can always asked why you were not slected and what you may do to improve your chances the next time you apply. Next, make sure you advertise what you are looking for to as wide of an audience as you are comfortable with. In some cases it is still who you know is as important as what you know. So, don’t burn any bridges that you may have established in the past. Let both of your internship supervisors and everybody that you had worked with in both internships know that you are now looking for an entry level position. The more people who are in the weather forecasting business know that you are looking for a position, the better chances that you may get help from them. Contact a manager or co-worker that you trust that you have worked with as a intern with the NWS and see if he or she can look over your application to see if they can give any advice on how you might make some improvements on it. You can ask them about the latest employment situations too. Apply for as many positions as possible. The important part is getting in. That will be the most difficult part. The rest you can worry about later. Yes, it is difficult to land a job in the NWS, especially today with the current job market situation. This is especially true with expected cuts in funding from congress to NOAA and the reduction in staff expected in the NWS in the very near future. This, combined with colleges producing too many students that are qualified for so limited positions available in the market will make it difficult for most students to get in to the NWS these days. I don't see much improvements anytime soon. However, there will still be entry level positions that must be filled and that will not stop as long as the government des not completely freeze the hiring. I hope this information will help you decide what, if any, changes you may want to take. Best wishes!