SnowGoose69

I think he was more focusing on the people who fit that bill who do get through the program basically implying they are screwing everyone around them in the field and don't even really have much of an interest yet they are stealing alot of the jobs.

Change IS to WAS.....it seems the moves in that direction that started maybe 10-15 years ago has slowed quite significantly the last few years or so...I have noticed an increased number of non-mets on TV both TWC, CNN, FOXNEWS, and local stations since maybe 2005-2006....I think the TV personnel more or less realized that in this day of great forecast modeling and strong NWS forecasts overall they can afford to go more with the personality and pretty face.

They don't, as mentioned in many of the threads many don't ever work in the field or many that initially do eventually move onto something else...the shiftwork bug bites many before the age of 30, particularly women as they don't want to work shifts once they're married and having children...I noticed a marked decline in my ability to tolerate overnight shifts as I got into my late 20s vs. my early 20s...it was an amazing difference in just about a 5-7 year period.

Some of the HR reps are good, some are okay, some are quite bad...there was even some really odd activity going on last year during the USAjobs reformat period in which you had to re-send all of your documentation since they switched systems...some of the reps were calling applicants after the close dates asking them to send in their documentation while they were not calling others, this is a big no no since nothing can be sent once the announcement closes, if you missed out you missed out...and its in essence a double no no since if you're going to call some you need to call all.

You're better off doing something else if thats the case though, most people enter this field anticipating they'll eventually get an NWS job since outside of very small percentage of private sector people thats the only way to financially get by, unless of course you have a 2nd income...I'm fortunate enough to be one of those few to make it in the private sector but it took awhile to do so.

Logic does tell you that eventually it would have major trickle down effects as generally vets are only qualified to be interns and not forecasters so, true...how WOULD they be able to fill those forecaster roles as people advanced and retired?

Its likely something is going on differently because numerous people in the met job thread with extensive experience, ie eyewall, osumetstud who had been getting referred almost automatically have not been referred to anything or only once in recent weeks.

See my posting regarding the vet status deal over in the meteorologist only section for the NWS thread...its likely this will be a short lived change for the reason I state and keep in mind, that is just 2 offices, odds are its occurred elsewhere as well...

I wanted so badly to work for Environment Canada in Toronto, Montreal, or Vancouver but the punks didn't hire anyone who was not a Canadian citizen, not even someone with a VISA...not sure if that policy has now changed....if it has they might stick you in like Winnipeg though.

Most schools don't and most other majors at my school did not allow it, its just that the departmental staff never got together and made it policy I assume, thank goodness...I still managed a 3.15 overall, I never could grasp how I was so amazingly strong in virtually every other subject of study but so terrible mathematically...even many friends I had who struggled to get 3.0s in their liberal arts majors could get As and Bs in calculus classes.

I can't remember what I got, it was either C-, C or D+...I know that much.

Ds get degrees, at least that was the case at my university, some of the bigger ones like PSU, OU, Wisconsin that is not the case, notice to all....if you are weak in math I'd strongly advise going to one of the smaller schools, they tend not to have the C or C- requirement for core courses and generally are more forcast based....nobody is going to ask for your transcript the majority of the time outside the NWS and even if they do they could give a rat's booty about your Ds in math if your Met class grades were good.

For all the complaining about just GETTING a job being a problem, my experience myself and among others is that often times the 2nd or 3rd job is the harder one to get...the reason being the field is so low paying, as a result even though you might have strong experience after 4, 6, or 10 years alot of the hiring companies are going to tend to go for the less experienced guy they can pay less money too.

The Met sector is not really impacted by the economy, at least that has been my experience, as I posted in one of the met job section threads, I've had more than one person who's said they felt the market is better during bad econmic times because private sector companies get more business because in a fickle economy companies feel the need to cover the weather influence on their business because it could cost them money or clients if they blow something because they try to interpret a generalized non-specific NWS forecast or don't use any forecast at all. Remember, most private weather services don't charge much for their service, so its not like its going to make a dent in said company's bottom line paying the money for it.

I was told by a TV news director about 15 years ago that women have to be good looking to get on TV...men on the other hand either have to be good looking or butt ugly...in between will get you nowhere, as a male you need to stand out in one form or the other...in other words, generally its hard to break in if you consider yourself an average looking guy without much of a TV personality

The NWS needs to open up airport offices again, thats my personal feeling...will it happen? highly highly unlikely but if it did and we could add even 5 spots at every major airport in the country with the warnings issued from there it would help alot.