After Graduation: Job Hunting and/or Graduate School
This Web page contains information on hunting for a meteorology job or graduate school. It is particularly aimed at FSU meteorology students and alumni and therefore frequently refers to FSU resources.
The present job market is very competitive, so it is important to be well prepared. In the 1980's, a survey by the National Science Foundation found that roughly 1/3 of recipients of bachelor's degrees in science worked in the field in which they studied. Another 1/3 worked in a related field, and the remaining 1/3 worked in a field unrelated to their major study area. Recipients of graduate degrees almost always found jobs closely related to their area of study. Those statistics probably still apply to science graduates today, including meteorologists. Over the last decade, the most volatile part of the meteorology job market has been the fluctuations in hiring by the National Weather Service. Computer-related careers have been the most important source of jobs in related fields and will probably remain so in the foreseeable future.
Below are listed information resources for job and graduate school hunting, a suggested approach toward setting and achieving school and career goals, and appendices on salaries in the private sector, applying for federal employment, and federal requirements for meteorologists. If you are capable of handling graduate school, it is a good choice for many but not all people. It depends what you want to do. For example, a graduate degree can definitely further career possibilities within the National Weather Service. In broadcast meteorology, a graduate degree in meteorology is not unheard of (I know of several TV meteorologists with master's degrees and two with a Ph.D.), but it is not common. You may be better served by earning a second degree in communications, which may add only one extra year to your time in college if you get started with communications courses at the same time you are studying meteorology. Those TV meteorologists with graduate degrees often supplement their income by getting a part-time job at a local college teaching basic meteorology. If you want to be a consulting meteorologist, you may want to take business courses. In summary, you should develop a career goal and then pursue the appropriate education that will enable you to succeed with that goal.
Please send questions, comments, and corrections to . Thanks to Bob Broedel and Paul Ruscher at FSU for the information they supplied while this page was being assembled.
Information Resources for Jobs
The FSU Career Center, located in the University Center by Doak Campbell Stadium. Probably every university has a career center. FSU's is open to anyone, even non-students.
The AMS Monthly Employment Notices. Subscriptions are available through the American Meteorological Society. The subscription rate, especially for student members, is very modest.
The Handy Weather Answer Book by Dr. Walter Lyons (1997, Accord Publishing Ltd.), which has a chapter on careers in meteorology (pages 361-378).
Books on job hunting or graduate school (there are many), available from local bookstores or vendors on the Web such as Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble
World Wide Web sites to check for job information:
Mail Lists at Mountains West, which lists MET-JOBS (meteorology jobs), GEOSCI-JOBS (geoscience jobs, many of which lie outside of meteorology), and GISRS-JOBS (geographic information system and remote sensing jobs). Free.
Weathercasting and broadcasting sites, such as http://www.tloffman.com (free), http://www.tvjobs.com ($10/yr and well worth it), http://www.medialine.com (a variety of services are sold through this site), and http://www.tvspy.com (where Shoptalk, a broadcasting newsletter with some job postings, is free. Other services have fees.). Shoptalk is often more easily available at a "mirror site."
Federal listing of jobs and salaries and application information.
Jobs with state governments.
General purpose job hunting sites such as America's Job Bank, Online Career Center, JobDirect, JobWeb, CareerMosaic, E-Span, Jobtrak, JobCenter, Intellimatch, JobNet, Monster Board, CareerSite, Career Magazine, CareerPath, etc.
Information resources for graduate school information
AMS Guide to Graduate Schools in Meteorology and Oceanography, available for perusal in the FSU Meteorology Department Office or order directly from the American Meteorological Society.
University catalogues. Available by writing directly to the university involved (there may be a fee) or most university libraries contain a collection of college and university catalogs, often on microfiche. At FSU, go to Strozier Library. At the Reference Desk, ask to see to "The College Blue Book" (Library of Congress call number L901.C64), and/or go to the Documents Section in the basement and ask to see the college catalogue collection on microfiche.
World Wide Web. Use AltaVista, Yahoo, etc. to search for the school or research area that interests you. For information on FSU, or go directly to the FSU Meteorology Department.
At present, most graduate students in meteorology departments are hired at a half-time level to help teach or do research. The amount of the stipend is usually enough to pay basic school and living expenses. It may or may not be enough to pay for a car. The cost of living and school fee structures vary so much from school to school that it is difficult to compare financial offers among schools. In any case, salary should not be the main factor in choosing a graduate school. Look for the best school you can that offers the specialty you want and that offers enough money to cover your expenses.
When you apply for an assistantship, bear in mind that all graduate students are regarded as being on their own, so assistantships are offered to the most capable students, not those with the most financial need. That is, applying for an assistantship is like applying for a job. You will be selected for an offer if you appear to be the best person for the job. Your chances for an assistantship are greatest if your complete application is received before 1 January. That means that you should arrange for reference letters and take the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) early in the fall of your senior year. See further below for information about the GRE.
Almost all graduate school applications require three reference letters. These should be from professors and perhaps a recent employer who knows you well. Therefore, make sure that several professors get to know you. If at all possible, get a job or be a volunteer assistant with a professor. Even if you are shy, go out of your way to visit your professors during office hours and ask questions. When you ask professors to write letters for you, please give them a copy of your resume. It will help them greatly in getting a more rounded view of you.
Almost all graduate school applications also require you to write a 1-2 page essay on what interests you in meteorology. This lets the school know about your background, what specialty interests you most, and how well you write.
Achieving Your Goals
Listed below are suggested steps for setting and achieving job or graduate school goals.
Generate possibilities
Brain storm, i.e., generate a long a list of career possibilities. The purpose of brainstorming is to get your creative juices flowing. Write down absolutely anything that you might conceivably do as a career. Take a broad view. Try to list 10-20 possibilities. College career centers, such as the FSU Career Center, can help in this regard. (High school students can visit their guidance counselors.) There, you can take a "quiz" that will help identify your interests through a variety of true/false and/or multiple choice questions.
Don't be afraid of considering jobs outside meteorology. As a meteorology graduate of FSU, you will have skills in meteorology, mathematics, general physics, programming, and statistics, plus all the knowledge you have gained through elective coursework. In addition to traditional meteorology jobs with the National Weather Service, radio-TV, private enterprise, and the military, consider:
environmental jobs (air or water quality, etc.)
oceanography
computer-related jobs
air traffic control
actuarial math (calculating insurance risks and premiums, and weather is a major factor). For further information on actuarial math, e.g., the FSU Web page on actuarial science.
technical sales
science teaching.
These choices will require extra coursework. Also, consider something completely unrelated to meteorology, like running a small business or working in a developing country.
Narrow possibilities and set goals.
Once you have generated a long list of possibilities, learn as much as you can about each one using:
printed material from employers, schools, or independent sources. The FSU Career Center can supply this kind of information for many careers.
the World Wide Web. (AltaVista, Yahoo, etc. can be a big help.)
personal letters to employers or schools.
telephone calls.
Balance desires with their "cost." Will you need additional education to be eligible for the job or graduate school? What is the cost of living? Do you like the size of the community and the services it offers? How far away is it from friends and family? Et cetera.
There is seldom a best choice. Too many factors are involved:
Plus, you have no way of knowing how things will work out, because you cannot see into the future. Do not worry about this, though. Just narrow down the list to your top choices. If no rational factor exists to select a first choice among the prime contenders, then you are in the enviable position of having two or more equally attractive choices.
Work hard to achieve your goals.
If you are job hunting, carefully write and revise a résumé. You can also get a lot of information by searching for "resume guide" using AltaVista ,Yahoo, etc. Make sure that you get your resume critiqued, preferably by someone has some experience looking at resumes. If you are at FSU, the FSU Career Center (and I) can provide critiques.
If you are interested in attending graduate school, you should take the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) early in your senior year. The GRE is administered both in a traditional way (where, on certain dates, you report to a testing center such as FSU) and via computer-based testing. Details about both approaches can be found at the GRE Web site. The computer-based test offers several advantages. Sylvan Learning Systems, Inc. administers the computer-based test. Call 1-800-GRE-CALL to find the closest Sylvan Learning Center to you. Those near Tallahassee can call the local Sylvan Learning Center at (850) 385-8696 for registration details for computer-based testing or can go to the FSU campus and visit the Testing Center at the William Johnston Building to pick up a free booklet that explains the procedures for the traditional exam.
It can be helpful to buy a GRE preparation book from a college bookstore. These contain sample tests. You could also take a special GRE preparation class,but that is much more expensive than buying a GRE review book. Comments I've heard from students indicate that GRE preparation classes are often not worth the cost. Such classes must have some value to some people, though, or they would not be in business.
Be prepared to spend some money to achieve your goal. That may include buying some good clothes for interviewing and paying for some trips to visit a prospective employer or graduate school. A personal visit to the employer or school is only partly so that you can see what the business or school is like. Be careful, since a single visit may not reliably gauge a company or school. Probably the greater value of a personal visit is to introduce you to the people at the company or school. Make arrangements ahead of time (don't show up unannounced), and target specific individuals with whom you would like to work or study. A personal visit is not as critical for getting into a graduate school, but you should definitely target a particular professor or two at each school that interests you. You need to convince him or her that you would be the best student that he or she could find.
Work hard, and do not be discouraged! Job hunting is often harder work than a job.
No school or job is perfect.
Because there are so many factors involved with any school or job, you can't expect everything to be perfect. To a large measure, though, you'll get out what you put in.
