Heather’s Met Office summer placements

Heather Guy graduated with a first class MSci degree in Natural Sciences (Physics and Environmental Science) in 2015. Heather completed two summer placements with the UK Met Office: with the MetOffice@Reading during the summer at the end of her 3rd year, and at the Met Office HQ in Exeter after she graduated. Read about Heather’s experience below, and how she was able to land these competitive placement opportunities.

What did you do for your summer placements? What were your days like?
I did two summer placements with the Met Office:

1. MetOffice@Reading, Summer 2014. This was a Foundation Science placement entitled “Atmospheric processes and parameterizations”, and was based at the University of Reading. I was working with a small team of research scientists who were trying to improve the representation of convection in very high resolution forecast models. The daily routine largely consisted of independent research punctuated with regular team coffee breaks. There were also weekly progress meetings and seminars to attend.
Over this summer I developed a computer programme in Python, which was able to provide very detailed statistical information on how well the model was forecasting the shapes of convective storms compared to radar observations. My verification tool is still being used today by the team at Reading to help diagnose sources of model error.

2. Met Office HQ, Exeter, Summer 2015. I was worked in the operations centre, directly alongside operational meteorologists to improve service delivery. I attended the chief forecasters Met briefing at everyday at 9am and the rest of my day was split between meetings and my own work. The meetings would be with forecasters and other departments, which might be to discuss ways in which forecast delivery might be improved. My individual projects included programming tools for forecasters (more Python!) and reviewing documents. I was also able to shadow forecasters working in different areas (flood forecasting and space weather for example) as well as visiting defence bases and observation sites to gain a thorough understanding of the forecast service delivery process.

How did you find out about these opportunities?
The Met Office summer placements are advertised on the Met Office careers website every year around October – December. You can also sign up for alerts on the website so that you don’t miss them (see the Job Alerts link here).

Did you have to apply? If so, how did you make yourself stand out?
For both placements I went through the initial online application process followed by a telephone interview. The Met Office filter their written applications using a strict C-A-R (context, action, result) marking scheme, so it is important that you follow this structure to provide evidence against each of the key skills in your written application. [Editor note: Careers would be of help here]

For my first placement I stood out due to my computer programming skills and experience studying meteorology – two desirable things which many undergraduates are lacking. I would highly recommend learning Python (e.g., here) as it is used widely by the Met Office. For my second placement I additionally had a good knowledge of the structure of the Met Office, their customers and the types of services they provide.

What did you learn about the Met Office working environment?
The Met Office is a great organisation to work for, and they put a lot of time and effort into making a good working environment for their staff. Some of the highlights of my placements were the free events that were put on for everyone to get involved with: the prestigious Met Office Sports Day (or croquet tournament at Reading), the big Met Office Picnic and various fairs, activities and fundraising events.

Has it helped you think about what you want to do in the future?
The two placements I did were totally different in both their job roles and working environment. This helped me appreciate the variety of work there is inside just one organisation and highlighted the possibility of moving between roles. Neither of the roles were perfect for me and together they have helped me narrow down a list of the things I do want and a list of things I don’t want in a long term career.