Every Friday, I break down real meteorology job postings and cover what the role actually involves, what employers are really looking for, and how to position yourself to get hired. Experience in energy, aviation, agricultural commodities, transportation, outdoor recreation, and event forecasting. Free, every Friday
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Issued 13th of March 2026 Because I've had such a crazy career, by choice, where I have not only worked across most industries and for almost a dozen companies, but also lived in many different places, I often forget how hard it can be to make the jump from one industry to another. During my conversations with meteorologists trying to find either their first or second job or transition to another sector, I see a lot of unrealized potential and a need for continued learning after college. COMET modules are great, but they don't go far enough. When I was younger, in my second job at United Airlines, I was a little bit cocky and sure of myself. I once called out one of the NWS offices for what to this day was in fact a terrible amended TAF, but how I went about letting them know wasn't, to this day, a great way to do so. Another time, I reached out to UCAR because I wanted them to make a COMET course about elevated convection and the 700mb shortwave. This is basically a situation that can precede the actual lee-side low along the Colorado/New Mexico/Wyoming front range by about 24 hours, and can lead to unexpected convection around Denver, but also in the western High Plains. COMET or UCAR said no. The thing is, while this was an aviation issue for me at the time, it is also a big deal for wind power forecasting in energy trading and can be a risk for road weather via dry and wet microbursts. While they may not see the need, these are the kind of things meteorologists are trying to predict on a regular basis. However, this is not something most universities are going to cover unless it is their area. This leads to a large number of forecasters who can't forecast specific types of weather. One more side story. The craziest thing about working in Newfoundland wasn't the weather. It was that most of the meteorologists from Newfoundland had never heard thunder. I remember a colleague recounting a story where they were visiting Iowa for a non-work event, and as you can guess, they heard thunder for the first time, as an adult. Getting a degree is hard work, and many people give up, often due to the ridiculous level of math. However, the reward for that hard work shouldn't be that you are siloed from most jobs because you can only forecast lake effect snow, or you can forecast tornadoes and severe weather amazingly, but then you learn that not all clients care about severe weather. This is what My Met Job hopes to change. The JobsUS-based JobsIndustry: Internship Title: Intern - Meteorological Operations (Summer & Fall 2026) Company: AEM (Weatherbug) Work Location: Remote Pay: $16-$18.50/hour Benefits: None Time Period:
Degree & Experience:
Job Responsibilities:
Who Should Apply? All aspiring operational meteorologists who want to be a forecaster after graduating. Much of what you do will require analyzing weather information to turn into stories and social media posts. Industry: Operational Meteorology Title: Meteorologist (Applied Scientist I) Company: Unknown (Search Wizards is a hiring company) Work Location: Goodyear, Arizona (Phoenix) Pay: $43-48 USD / hour Benefits: See Job Listing Time Period: 12-month contract Degree:
Years of Experience: 1-3 years of experience in operational meteorology Skills:
Who Should Apply? This is pretty much an early-career job for the right person. You do need at least 1 year, but you may be able to use an internship if you were doing operational forecasting. The job is a great way to start, where you are working with clients, using GIS, and doing basic forecasting. I would tell anyone who is trying to get a break to apply. About the Location Phoenix from May to September is unbelievably hot. There is no way around this. If you like to be outside, you will end up doing this after dark. Now, the rest of the year, I love visiting Phoenix, and of course, it's more because I enjoy being outdoors. Phoenix has some of the best city hiking of any big city, with mountains within the city covered in cactus instead of trees. Piestewa Peak is a great hike to test how good of shape you are really in, with 1,300 feet of elevation gain over a short distance. Great views at the top. I've taken some of the best sunset photos from Phoenix. One of the hardest hikes I've done is in the Phoenix area. There is also Saguaro National Park nearby in Tucson, which is a pretty cool forest of cactus. There are several interesting towns where you can take a day trip, there are waterfalls and river tubing if you know where to look, and then just a short drive north is Sedona, one of the best places in the US just for the scenery, and a little further north of there is Humphrey's Peak (highest in the state and where you can go snow skiing ) and next to the Grand Canyon. Industry: Energy Trading (non-forecasting) Title: Senior Manager Power Operations & Marketing Company: City of Seattle, Washington Work Location: Seattle, Washington Pay: $78 - $125USD/hour Benefits: See Job Listing Degree:
Years of Experience: 6 years of experience in Power Marketing and Operations or related Energy operations, 3 years in supervisory role) Skills:
Who Should Apply? This is not a meteorology role. I posted this because someone with an energy markets background, and either an MBA or another advanced financial or energy background, could apply. Power markets are driven in part by the weather. The listing says this, and I know from working in power markets that it's true. This is a job for someone with a very specific skillset, but also allows those who are not qualified, but who want to work in energy, you may be able to imagine positions that are not obviously related to weather, but that offer a career option. This is a hydro power-specific type of opportunity. About the Location Seattle is awesome, and Washington is one of my favorite states in the US. Mountains, lakes, waterfalls, snow, the ocean, a rainforest, almost a desert, and red rock. When I was working in Seattle, I used to go hiking every day on my way to work on the night shift. In the morning, I would get out of work around 5 am, and on the weekends, I would drive to a point called West Seattle that stuck out west of downtown into the bay, and I would watch the sun rise. Industry: Emergency Management Title: Meteorologist Company: Pantex Work Location: Amarillo, Texas Pay: None given Benefits: See Job Listing Degree & Experience:
Skills:
Who Should Apply? You should read the job listing. You should know up front that you are responsible for the safety of the people at this facility and the surrounding areas. Even if you are protected from any accountability, your job in this role is to model any unhealthy or dangerous chemicals that leak. You would use plume modeling. You also forecast for severe weather, lightning, or any other damaging weather concerns and then relay this information to a variety of audiences. You should enjoy having big responsibilities. About the Location As someone who has seemingly lived everywhere, I have lived really close to Amarillo in my life. This is for the person who doesn't want to live in a big city, doesn't mind a dry climate, but really loves the idea of chasing tornadoes, getting very strong winds, blizzards, and dust storms, and likes to watch cows graze. This is the place where I decided I wanted to be a meteorologist after watching a tornado hit the town I lived in. That being said, Amarillo is a small town in the Texas Panhandle, about 3 hours drive from Santa Fe, New Mexico, so pretty close to actual mountains, and about a 3-4 hour drive to Oklahoma City, and maybe a 6-hour drive to Denver, Colorado. Amarillo has an old amusement park called Wonderland that I used to visit when I was younger. There is also Palo Duro Canyon, about 1 hour south, which is the second-largest canyon in the US after the Grand Canyon. Also, if you like football, the Texas Panhandle and West Texas are where Friday Night Lights originated. International Jobs (Outside the US)Industry: Energy Title: Meteorologist Company: BP Work Location: Singapore Pay: None given Benefits: See Job Listing Degree:
Years of Experience: Experience, but none listed Skills:
Who Should Apply? You want to live in a tropical location, almost on the Equator, between Asia and Australia, and really close to the trendy Bali. The job itself is an energy trading role that requires experience, but not a number, so if you have it, you should apply. You should have the ability to forecast in Asia or Australia, which, if you have never forecasted for the southern hemisphere, you should try that first before applying. The job also asks for you to have Python skills, and this is because you will interact with quantitative mets to build internal tools. If you have skills like this and you might want to live in this part of the world, or already do, then you should apply. This is a good job in hard to hire for location. This job was open a few months ago, so either they are hiring a second position or never filled the first. Industry: Energy Trading Title: Meteorologist/Electricity Demand Forecaster Company: Wood Mackenzie Work Location: Edinburgh, Scotland Pay: None given Benefits: See Job Listing Degree:
Years of Experience: Experience, but none listed Skills:
Who Should Apply? If you want to work in energy, this is the golden ticket. The job title is misleading because they really want a meteorologist to work on a trading floor. The skills you need are what most meteorologists already have. As long as you can use Excel and know some Python, and are willing to live in Scotland this could be for you. Other Jobs Worth MentioningStrategic Assistant to the Head of Meteorology - Ubimet Group - A unique position at a well-established company based in Austria. Link to Job Post Senior Forecaster - CGS hiring firm - You have to be based in the Netherlands to take this role. Really good benefits. This is a repost. Link to Job Post Final Thoughts As much as I want to talk about the current AI situation and the jobs being posted, I feel like it's probably safer to let that one go. Just make sure you understand who is hiring you and for what reason, and if you are early in your career, how it will help or hurt your future. I mentioned above about unrealized potential. This is such an unfortunate part of the state of meteorology that someone with skills that could easily translate from one industry to another doesn't realize what they have. As meteorologists reach out to talk to me and as I sign up other meteorologists for private coaching, the one thing that sticks out is that maybe too many of you are focusing exactly on what the job is asking for instead of using what you already have to make a case why you are qualified for the role. If you really understand the boundary layer or the surface to about 925mb roughly, you can pretty much go to any meteorology job. If you have a strong knowledge base in temperature inversions and low-level wind flow, you have the keys to aviation, marine, road weather, event forecasting (sports or concerts), and energy. My background includes barely graduating from college with a low GPA, thinking I wasn't good enough for any job, then learning that most companies couldn't care less about GPA. I graduated from a university that almost lost accreditation while I was enrolled. It took me 2 years of applying, being flown into job interviews (before Covid, they did this), and then not getting the job, working as a taxi driver (pre-Uber), at a liquor store, at an Arby's, as an air pollution tester, and at a large electronics store, before getting my first meteorology job. I was about the least confident forecaster. And yet, I've been forecasting for 20+ years, all across America and worldwide, for a whole list of businesses, foreign dignitaries, and celebrities. Good luck with your job search! |
Every Friday, I break down real meteorology job postings and cover what the role actually involves, what employers are really looking for, and how to position yourself to get hired. Experience in energy, aviation, agricultural commodities, transportation, outdoor recreation, and event forecasting. Free, every Friday