Meteorologist

Everyone knows about the Meteorologists who work in TV and radio, but most in the profession are actually employed by government agencies or consulting firms, and perform their jobs out of the spotlight. In simple terms, a Meteorologist is a type of Atmospheric Scientist who forecasts the weather, providing a valuable service to many industries as well as the public.

To predict the future as a Meteorologist, you need to study the past. You’ll analyze readings of temperature, precipitation, wind speed, atmospheric pressure, and more, over periods of hours, months, years, and decades. You’ll take all of that information as Meteorologist, collected using complex technology from nearby weather stations as well as satellites, and use computer models to turn it into a local forecast.

Although you’ll work with a lot of concrete data, the results are often fuzzy. Our atmosphere is a huge system with myriad factors at play. Because of this, you probably won’t be able to predict the weather with total accuracy. Your forecasts will be good enough, however, to advise agricultural companies on the outlook of their crops, and warn the general public to bring their umbrellas.

One downside of being the “weather man” is that people tend to blame you for bad weather. You’ll need a good sense of humor to deflect annoying comments like, “When are you going to get rid of these clouds and bring us some sunshine?” But at least when the sun does come out, you’ll get a little credit, whether you deserve it or not.