Meteorology degree: Worth the investment?

I have B.S. degrees in Math and Atmospheric Science, as well as an M.S. in Atmospheric Science. From day one it was always my dream to be a forecaster for the National Weather Service - but once you graduate you realize how difficult it is to get in the door. I have applied for numerous positions all over the United States and haven't even been contacted for an interview because of my lack of experience.

I was lucky enough to get a contractor job as a research meteorologist, but it's hard to plan your life when your job is only guaranteed for a year at a time. There are an abundance of term, contract, and temporary positions in meteorology - but finding a permanent job is next to impossible. I have even considered going for my PhD hoping that will help my chances - but after reading this article I'm not sure if it is worth it.

From what I have seen in my few months out of college - I would highly suggest getting minor in a specialized area. Computer science and GIS are two big ones that I hear all the time in the private field. Getting a minor in hydrology or geology can help your chances getting a job with the USGS or the Army Corps of Engineers.

It's a tough world out there for us meteorologists. Best of luck to everyone!
 
I went to ISU with a 75% chance of Computer Science and a 25% chance of meteorology (possibly as a minor if that was possible). After taking the two calc classes for Comp Sci and barely scraping by, I knew the extra math required for meteorology was not for me. Point is, if you have a backup major, I think you will have some time to see how math is working out for you before you need to commit to meteorology or not. If your backup major is technical, you may need those intro classes anyway.
 
It is not "next to impossible" to get a job as a weather forecaster. The private sector is growing.

One point I wish to make after reading some of the recent posts in this thread. With few exceptions, masters degree will not improve your chances of getting a forecasting position in the private sector.
 
Math and physics were my achilles heal, so back in the day when the Meteorology program first came into existence at the University of Nebraska Lincoln I decided to forego the advanced math and physics and just get a BS degree in Geography with a specialization in Climatology and let storm chasing be my outlet for my love of weather. The only difference between the two programs was the extra math and physics, so I decided to diminish the brain damage and signed up for the Climatology route.

I have never worked in a weather related field, but I've held several successful jobs in the financial services industry, so keep your options open once you're out of school. The jobs I referred to were very well paying positions and you'd be surprised at what you can do even if your degree is completely unrelated to where you wind up.
 
Two things that were mentioned should be mentioned again:

1. Communication skills. Mike is definitely correct; if your forecast isn't communicated properly, it isn't going to be effective. We see more and more run-on sentences and bad grammar in the media nowadays, and I've noticed more than a few of these in AFDs as well.

2. Diversify. Having computer programming skills gives you a leg up on the competition in science-related fields, in my opinion. Knowledge of Perl, PHP, GIS, etc. is definitely a plus...my experience with the first two helped me land my current job. Also, in the event of layoffs, those skills could help you avoid being cut too.
 
Tony Perkins said:
I went to ISU with a 75% chance of Computer Science and a 25% chance of meteorology (possibly as a minor if that was possible). After taking the two calc classes for Comp Sci and barely scraping by, I knew the extra math required for meteorology was not for me. Point is, if you have a backup major, I think you will have some time to see how math is working out for you before you need to commit to meteorology or not. If your backup major is technical, you may need those intro classes anyway.
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Bwahaha, I could probably take a gamble on guessing a few of the profs you had here for the calc sequence.

Calculus II is the most important foundation of the four Calculus classes (using the colloquial term "Calculus IV" for DiffE) and also the toughest. Although not taught as a "weed-out" course it becomes such for many engineers and science majors in general here.

Curiously, the majority of students blow past my exams on visual methods (area between curves, rotation of regions, centroids, polar calculus etc.) but get hung up on the routine "cookbook" chapters on integration formulas and sequences/series. The latter sticks out like a sore thumb in the text, admittedly, both for its unusual spirit and relative newness, but it's the foundation for the crucial concept of Taylor series. That being said, I wish I could have had you as a student, since the fact that you write with a reasonable amount of good structure and adherence to grammar is a sign that I could have taught you well enough for you to earn at least a B. :)
 
Jason Branz said:
2. Diversify. Having computer programming skills gives you a leg up on the competition in science-related fields, in my opinion. Knowledge of Perl, PHP, GIS, etc. is definitely a plus...my experience with the first two helped me land my current job. Also, in the event of layoffs, those skills could help you avoid being cut too.
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I know Python is becoming big in scientific computing. I would recommend any up and coming student who is even thinking about doing meteorology to pick up a book on Python and start reading. Once you get your first language down, the rest is just syntax...

One thing I want to say about the math. I firmly believe that anyone can learn calculus as long as they have good algebra skills. Believe it or not, calculus is 90% algebra and then there is one memorization step that is the calculus. What trips up most people is the algebra necessary to get things in a form that allows you to use that one step of calculus that you've memorized.
 
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Worth it? No.

Focus on getting yourself in position for the upcoming energy economy. This is where almost all the good job growth will come from. Some meteorologist will be involved with this especially with wind energy (but not all mets), but if you are intelligent enough to graduate with a BS in meteorology, consider:

* Nuclear engineering
* Electrical engineering
* Petroleum engineering

In many cases, NE's and PE's can get their choice of 2 or 3 job offers with generous starting salaries. If you don't see yourself as an engineer, the medical field is hurting for people. Also, agriculture..... especially local sustainable agriculture will be an enormous growth industry over the next 10-20 years as fossil fuel price increases cut down on the trucking/shipping of food from the world over to your plate.
 
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