A2X Consulting

Meteorology is a competitive field. To insure a good job in the future, an internship is vital to your success. Finding an internship in meteorology is another question however. To start out you should decide where you want to work in meteorology. Do you want to work on camera as a TV weatherperson? Or would you rather have a behind the scenes job – perhaps with the government? Once you decide, use this guide to help you find the best meteorology internship.

Step 1:

Create your resume. This step may seem obvious, but you want to tailor your resume to your internship by highlighting all of your previous meteorology experience. Consider coursework or any university clubs that you belong to. Ask a meteorology professor for help in writing your resume as a professor can probably think of applicable experience that may have slipped your mind.

Step 2:

Go to your career center. Because meteorology is relatively competitive you want to give yourself an edge over your competition. Tapping into the vast resources available at your career center, such as talking to a counselor and getting a list of companies that are hiring, should be useful.

Step 3:

Remember that meteorology professor who helped you with your resume? This is a good time to ask him/her for advice on where you should look and apply for an internship.

Step 4:

Consider a government meteorology internship. This may not be available at any time during the year or in every city, but many times the government will offer internships to college students who have been studying meteorology for at least two years.

Step 5:

Contact companies. Send your resume with a cover letter to the company where you want to intern. Then follow up. Call to inquire the status of your resume or when they will begin the interview process.

Some places to consider looking online are with the National Weather Service Job Site and the National Severe Storms Laboratory.

Step 6:

Don’t get frustrated! Because of the competitive nature of the field, it can be easy to get frustrated. However, you can widen your internship scope if you decide to take an unpaid internship. Also remember that not everyone starts out on camera! Most of those people worked years to get to that point and they definitely need many responsible meteorologists working with them.

Good luck searching!

By Sara Beck. Sara is an expat who lives in Santiago, Chile and is studying for her MBA. Send her an email at sarabeck86@gmail.com.