Meteorologist : Career development

The majority of meteorologists in the UK are employed by the Met Office and most entrants to this field of work look to develop their careers there, not least as it actively encourages the training and development of its staff. There are also opportunities for collaborative work with other organisations throughout the world.

The Met Office encourages its staff to manage their own careers and to apply for posts within the organisation to broaden their experience and widen their skills and knowledge base. It is possible to move between functions, such as research, forecasting, teaching, personnel and more commercial roles. Most positions are located at the Met Office headquarters, but entrants to forecasting positions must be willing to move around the country to regional weather centres in order to progress. With experience, you may progress to a management position, such as project or team leader, or into a training role.

Movement to other roles away from the Met Office is also possible: some meteorologists move into research functions with the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) or within university departments - a list of centres that carry out meteorological research is available from the Royal Meteorological Society .

In forecasting roles, meteorologists may develop their careers with organisations such as commercial forecasting services in the private sector, environmental consultancies, utility companies or television or radio broadcasters - profiles of BBC weather forecasters are available at BBC Weather .

Membership of relevant professional bodies, such as the Royal Meteorological Society, can help career development. Meteorologists can progress to chartered status, for which there are various criteria, including the requirement of relevant practical experience and a minimum of five years' recent work at an appropriate professional level (a meteorology PhD may count as two years).