VAwxman

He's been quiet for awhile so maybe we'll be okay in that regard lol. Or maybe I just jinxed it. :-(

If you are not willing to move, or have a significant other that won't allow you to do so, then either you should have never gotten into meteo since you don't care enough to pursue it (unless you don't mind the "sweatshops" and can make it work... I do have lots of friends still at AccuWx, who of course aren't paid well, but seem content for various reasons), or you need a new significant other.

Yeah with all the graduating mets we have these days, it's hard to see it becoming "easy" anytime soon, that's for sure. But I will stick to commenting more on the private sector which is where all of my experience is. I do think there is room for growth in the energy / renewables sectors in the coming years, but it's not like there won't be competition there either.

Seems like having success getting into NWS goes in cycles. I don't know much about it myself, as I have never really had the desire to get in, but I know for awhile 3-4 years ago, seemingly everyone I knew from my AccuWx days got in all within 8-10 months. Now, from reading the threads, it is much more difficult, so it seems.

You're in the private sector too? For some reason I had you pegged as a NWS guy too. In any case, pretty depressing thread, but a lot of truth to it especially if you aren't willing to 1) Work for low pay for awhile in some "sweat shop" type job initially 2) Move away from your home region, sometimes very far away 3) Network, network, network... Always get to know as many on the inside as possible 4) Be the best met you can possibly be, and prove your motivation to others by making it clear that meteo is your passion, and not just a job to collect a paycheck. If you do all of these things, you won't just land a job immediately, as it will still have challenges, but you will separate yourself some from others. I have seen far too many mets that do not do all of the things listed above, and it really cripples their chances. For example, in the energy field, where salaries are large, I know many who would probably be able to excel in this kind of work, but yet refuse to move to where the work is (most of the time down in Houston), so they wind up stuck somewhere like AccuWx where you will never make much.