Changing Careers... meteorology.?

Question

I graduated with a BS in Religious Studies 3 years ago. I've wanted to be a meteorologist since I was in 7th grade. I work in non profit, and I like what I do (Research Manager-social sciences), but I would really like to do more of the technical things.

So... what are the day to day tasks of a meteorologist?

What is the career outlook? average starting salary?

Could I take a year of make up classes then start my masters?

Answer 1

There are lots of career paths.  The news shows are just one avenue.  The hurricane center in florida uses meterologists, the military always needs them, the national weather service.  The career outlook is excellent.

Penn State probably has the best weather program in the country. You can find similar programs via the US News and World Report web site guide to the top collegiate programs.  You will need classes or a degree in meteorology.

My son is also interested in meterology, the head meterologist at our local television affiliate was very kind and gave him a tour and lots of good advice.

Good luck!

Answer 2

My co-worker often jokes that meteorology would've made a better hobby than career.  While there are plenty of jobs out there for meteorologists, the truth is most do not pay well.  With a bachelors degree, the average starting salary for a forecast meteorology is $30K at best.  I've seen many private forecast companies offer starting salaries at $22-23K, which is barely enough to offset living expenses.  There are jobs that pay better, such as in the energy sector or in instrumentation and software development...but these jobs are either in a much more stressful work environment or do not allow one to monitor the weather, but rather develop weather-related products.  With masters degree or PhD, you can find research and teaching jobs that pay well, but this requires several years of school and very math-intensive classes.

It will be difficult to get into a Masters program with more of a social science background.  People who got their BS in the physical sciences are well prepared, since many of the math and science pre-requisites are similar.  From your background, you will need to take several advance math and science courses to prepare yourself for a graduate school curriculum, and I'm not sure if that's something that could be done in a year.  Perhaps you'd be better pursuing an associates degree or simply pursuing a BS in meteorology and not worrying about an MS degree at this point.  The best thing you can do is find a nearby school with a meteorology/atmospheric science program, and speak to someone about their graduate program and see what kind of classes you would need to prepare.

The day to day tasks vary depending on what job you pursue.  Forecasters are responsible for generating forecasts for clients or the public (NWS) either locally or around the country.  They also advise clients/the public of severe and extreme weather.  In the energy market, meteorologist issue forecasts to energy traders who use the information to project futures of various weather-related commodities.  If you pursue instrumentation, you'd be in charge of developing instruments or installation and repair of weather equipment.  Software developers work on developing and improving weather-related software.  Researchers do more technical research on weather related events or phenomenon, and do a lot of scripting/programming/reading/and writing.

I don't want to discourage you from pursuing meteorology if it is your passion, but you should be prepared to work very hard in some advanced classes in order to prepare.  And without at least a MS, the career outlook isn't great with either low paying jobs or very competitive jobs.