Issued on the 29th of May, 2026
One of the biggest mistakes you can make in an interview is not providing an answer. As a hiring manager and an interviewer, I observed this firsthand when people would get nervous and forget everything, and not be able to pull it together and provide some sort of answer.
The worst thing you can say is, "I don't know".
A big part of the interview is the interviewer learning how you handle adversity or things not going your way, and so using the "I don't know" answer kind of ends your chances right there. All the work you did to get there, right down the drain.
When I would ask questions about 500mb patterns, I didn't even care about the answer. I only wanted to see how people answered the question, on camera, and the number of people that seemed to completely fall apart and not be able to even come up with anything was surprising.
In the image above, a very broad question could be tell me what is going on at the surface based on the image above. Or they could ask you to point out the key things, or where the low-pressure centers would be in 24 hours. If you were in agriculture or energy, you could be asked what the single most important thing to focus on is in this image. The answer would be completely different than a question about an aviation forecast at a given airport.
Even if you don't know, you should think it through, because likely the question is something you might have to do in the job, and you might do while working on your own, and have to figure it out.
The last thing the employer wants is a meteorologist who leaves the customer hanging, especially in small companies that can't afford to lose any clients.
Before you go into an interview, you should develop some sort of process for handling any sort of question, breaking it down, and then working out the answer.
At least give yourself the best chance.
The Jobs
USA Jobs
Industry: Wildfire
Title: Meteorologist
Company: Hawaiian Electric
Work Location: Honolulu
Pay: $99,900 - $127,500 USD per year
Benefits: See Job Listing
Degree:
- Must have an undergraduate or graduate degree in meteorology, atmospheric sciences, or a related technical discipline.
- Graduate degree in meteorology, atmospheric sciences, or a related technical discipline is preferred.
Years of Experience:
- 5+ years of experience in weather forecasting and statistical analysis.
Key Skills or Knowledge: (most important to the company)
- Broad understanding of how extreme weather events may affect an electric utility.
- Broad knowledge and experience with regulatory policies, methods, and practices necessary to perform complex assignments.
- Demonstrated experience performing statistical analysis and modeling.
- Working knowledge of general electrical utility procedures and operations.
- Working knowledge of GIS and a programming language (ex: Python, MATLAB, etc).
- Ability and experience with configuring and running various weather models.
- Demonstrated experience using SAS, R, or other tools for statistical analysis and forecasting.
- Demonstrated weather forecasting experience for Hawaii.
- Demonstrated experience forecasting conditions about or around wildfires.
- Demonstrated experience with long-term (month-ahead or more) weather forecasting.
- Demonstrated experience preparing findings and presenting complex technical information to technical and non-technical audiences.
- Demonstrated experience forecasting one to seven-day ahead surface temperature and forecasting weather utilizing a wide variety of observational and model data, both at surface and upper air.
Who Should Apply?
This job has been reposted for the last 6 months, which could mean they are not finding the right candidates. If you are the right person, you might be able to get the higher range listed or at least negotiate.
After the devastating Maui wildfire, there was likely a lot of pressure put on to create a better approach to assessing risk and predicting conditions favorable for wildfires. While the environmental conditions present during the fire were unique, they were not, in my opinion, all that abnormal during a wildfire in a location near an ocean.
About the Location
Hawaii as a vacation is great. I've never been, but I know people who have, and I know people from Hawaii, and so I know that living there can be very costly. It's an island. Most things must be shipped to the island, and as I learned after living on a non-tropical island, if the ship doesn't sail, you don't get your goods. For the right person, this is a great job, and if you can make it work, go for it.
Industry: Insurance
Title: Catastrophe Modelling - Climate, Nature & Social Risk Executive Director
Company: JP Morgan
Work Location: New York, NY
Pay: $175,760 - $260,000 per year
Benefits: See Job Listing
Degree:
- Advanced degree in a quantitative discipline such as engineering, physics, economics, or mathematics.
- Advanced degree (PhD preferred) in a quantitative discipline such as engineering, physics, economics, or mathematics.
Years of Experience:
- 10+ years of experience in catastrophe modelling, ideally within a broker, insurer, reinsurer, or model development firm.
Key Skills or Knowledge: (most important to the company)
- Knowledge of climate scenario analysis, regulatory requirements, and their banking application is a plus.
- Expertise in Verisk/AIR or Moody’s/RMS modelling software, with proficiency in catastrophe risk modelling methods, terminology, and metrics, is a must.
- Demonstrated experience in model evaluation, validation, and/or development, with application to insurance, reinsurance, or banking business cases.
- Strong leadership skills, with the ability to influence, lead cross-functional teams, and drive strategic initiatives.
- Excellent communication skills, with the ability to clearly and succinctly convey complex analytical outputs to stakeholders (both written and verbal).
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Proficiency in programming languages such as R or Python and geospatial data analysis
Who Should Apply?
This is for someone with significant experience in climate insurance risk management. You will be an expert on catastrophe modelling and could teach another person with no knowledge what this is, which model to use, and how to set one up.
This is sort of a tangential posting. I think that people who have spent their career in insurance risk would gain the experience to apply for something like this, and maybe a few other candidates with unique advanced degrees, like an economics or mathematics, and an atmospheric / climate Master's or PhD. These types of jobs rarely show up in meteorology job postings and are more something you would find by searching "climate risk".
International Jobs (Outside the US)
Industry: Energy - Marine
Title: Senior Metocean Specialist
Company: Skyborn
Work Location: Hamburg, Germany - Hybrid
Pay: None given
Benefits: See Job Listing - 30 days of vacation to start. Take that, America.
Degree:
- Degree in Oceanography, Meteorology, Marine Engineering, or related technical field.
Years of Experience:
- 3-5 years of experience in metocean analysis within the offshore wind, marine energy, or maritime infrastructure sectors.
Key Skills or Knowledge: (most important to the company)
- Demonstrated experience in managing metocean measurement campaigns and working with large environmental datasets.
- Proficiency in acquiring and working with common metocean data sets, such as from ERA5, NOAA, CMEMS, or HYCOM, or satellite altimetry.
- Extensive experience in offshore wind metocean assessment, relevant calculations using Python or equivalent software, and familiarity with relevant standards and guidelines
- Speak English.
Who Should Apply?
This is a renewable energy company building offshore wind farms, so technically, you would be working in energy, but using your marine background and experience to analyze ocean and boundary layer conditions as they relate to siting and operating wind turbines. Sounds like a pretty good opportunity if you want to live in the EU and Germany.
Industry: Computer Science
Title: Meteorologist
Company: KIT
Work Location: Germany
Pay: €65,000 - €82,000 per year
Benefits: 30-days of vacation + more
Contract: 5 years
Degree:
- PhD in meteorology, mathematics, computer science, physics or a related field
Years of Experience:
- See Job Listing
Key Skills or Knowledge: (most important to the company)
- Experience in research at the interface of meteorology, mathematics, and computer science
- Experienced in computer programming
- Working knowledge of high-performance computers
- Fluent in English
- Experience with numerical modeling is desirable.
- German language skills or a willingness to learn German are desirable.
Who Should Apply?
If you are a PhD with a computer programming background, love Germany, or want to work in Germany and it seems develop additional research at the forefront of weather predictability and build your own profile, this is the job.
Industry: Operational Meteorology / Management
Title: Head of Forecast
Company: GeoSphere
Work Location: Austria
Pay: €69,204 per year starting
Benefits: 30-days of vacation + more
Degree:
- Master's degree in meteorology, mathematics, computer science, physics, or a related field
Years of Experience:
- 5+ Years
Key Skills or Knowledge: (most important to the company)
- Ability to lead a large team, up to 35 people, it seems when you count even the non-meteorologists.
- A given, but you should have in-depth knowledge of numerical weather prediction, models, and multi-hazard approaches, as well as experience with forecast systems, visualization tools, and data analysis.
- Ability to ensure the quality and consistency of forecasts, as well as experience in deriving decision-relevant information from complex data
- Expertise in crisis management during extreme events, as well as experience in operational meteorological services, and an understanding of warning systems and forecast processes
- Experience in dealing with the media and stakeholders, as well as the ability to present complex content in a clear and audience-appropriate manner
- Ability to make well-founded and responsible decisions under conditions of uncertainty, particularly regarding warning decisions
- Experience in the further development of forecast strategies as well as in the establishment and optimization of efficient processes
- Several years of experience leading teams, ideally in a shift-based environment
Who Should Apply?
This job has been reposted at least 2 other times. This is likely due to them not finding the right candidate. The reason for not finding the right person could be due to a lack of good candidates, or they have a very narrow view of who is the best candidate.
This is a position where you are the leader of the whole team, and you make sure everything works properly, ensuring quality and knowledge of the forecasting within the staff. If you want to get into leadership, this could be a good job for the right person.
Regardless, they are well known for their lagers, and they are right up against the eastern end of the Alps, meaning a lot of summer and winter activities for people who enjoy the outdoors.
Industry: Marine
Title: Weather & Route Optimisation Specialist
Company: Gale Force
Work Location: Sweden
Pay: None Listed
Benefits: See Job Posting
Extra: Must have the right to work in Sweden
Degree:
- A degree in Meteorology, Oceanography, or a related field
- Education in nautical sciences or maritime studies, with experience as a deck officer
Years of Experience:
- See Job Listing
Key Skills or Knowledge: (most important to the company)
- Experience interpreting meteorological and oceanographic data in an operational environment, which is considered an advantage
- A strong interest in data analysis, pattern recognition, and performance optimisation
- Strong proficiency in English, both written and spoken
- A proactive mindset with the confidence to ask questions, solve problems, and take initiative
- The ability to work both independently and collaboratively within a team
- Interest in the shipping industry is considered a plus, but not required. What matters most is your curiosity, drive, and commitment to high-quality work.
Who Should Apply?
Since I have held this exact type of job, but at a different company, I can provide some insight about what you will do, although every company is different.
The team is small and experienced, with the founder having 35 years on the ocean as a mariner. The head of operations is the lead meteorologist with 18 years of experience, also a good sign.
The type of role is designing shipping routes from one port to another, and often moving people or large cargo shipments. The ports can be across oceans or on the same continent. You could be designing the entire route with fuel and security considerations in addition to the weather, or you could also just be providing weather information. In my experience, there wasn't as much forecasting as I was hoping, and more just knowing a lot of information about shipping logistics and maritime rules, so this should be something you have a lot of interest in as well.
Industry: Energy
Title: Meteorology and Climate Researcher
Company: Hydro Quebec
Work Location: Montreal, Quebec
Pay: $70,239.26 to $144,372.80 CAD per year
Benefits: See Job Listing
Contract: 2 years
Degree:
- Hold a bachelor's, Master's, or a PhD degree in atmospheric science, climate science, or any other relevant discipline.
Years of Experience:
- 3+ years of experience with quantitative methods and probabilistic models: develop and apply statistical and AI probabilistic models and data processing methods on weather variables (wind, solar, precipitation, and others) and in spatio-temporal analysis and modeling.
Key Skills or Knowledge: (most important to the company)
- Working knowledge of one of these: Python, Julia, MATLAB.
- Speak conversational French and be fluent in English.
- Understand the function of seasonal and climatological weather models.
- Experience with or knowledge about the weather patterns that commonly occur in Quebec and affect the energy infrastructure. Examples would be freezing rain, extensive clouds, and wind patterns) important for Hydro-Québec's activities (hydroelectric, wind, and solar production, outage events, etc.)
- Ability to write technical reports and scientific publications.
Who Should Apply?
It is important to understand the need to be able to speak French. Once upon a time, I worked with clients in New Brunswick, Canada, one of the other bilingual provinces in Canada, and I had to speak in French to a client, but I didn't know French. This was before an app on your phone could translate, and so I used a cheat sheet, and you can imagine how that sounded.
The other thing is that you should understand the weather they get in this part of Canada. Freezing rain is common, and the weather pattern that leads to freezing rain can be really obvious with a low-pressure system, but also not at all obvious with trapped low-level moisture or moisture advection from the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay, or the St. Lawrence River and high pressure in place. This can also be the reason for low clouds. While freezing rain is bad for power lines, the clouds can reduce solar.
It can be very cold in Montreal, so make sure you enjoy ice skating, ice fishing, or just being really cold.
Final Thoughts
I will start posting some jobs in the report that are in climate because, in lean job prospect times, many people could get a bridge job in climate risk, climate resiliency, climate sustainability, or climate change policy. Many of you may look away in disgust at not forecasting or at least doing something specific in meteorology, but I think many others have advanced degrees that can, if needed, cross over into environmental science, finance, law, urban planning, or GIS.
If you go into a browser and search for Climate Risk Jobs you will get hundreds of results back. You will have to refine this list to meet your qualifications, but if you have been laid off and need a filler until you find a job you really want, or maybe you are interested in transitioning out of meteorology into more climate + another industry, there are many, many more opportunities.
Trust me, even when you get your foot in the door and get an interview, you have a big hill to climb. I had some non-meteorology interviews when I was laid off, and I performed poorly because, on paper, it was easier to connect the dots, but with an actual person, it was much harder to explain why I could be a good hire.
If you haven't used it, Haby Hints is a great free resource for understanding the atmosphere.
Good luck on the job search!
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