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Weather News
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NOAA and partners evaluate vital Wisconsin wetlands to reduce flood risk
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Meet the mothers and calves of the 2026 right whale calving season
Meet the mothers and calves of the 2026 right whale calving season
North Atlantic right whale #3390 (Uca) and her second calf swimming approximately 15 miles east of Hilton Head, South Carolina. Credit: Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute, taken under NOAA permit #26919. Aerial survey funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. (Image credit: Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute)
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Work With The National Weather Service
Work With Us
Building a Weather-Ready Nation and managing the nation’s weather, water, and climate data, forecasts and warnings requires a talented and dedicated workforce.
National Weather Service (NWS) employees support all aspects of public safety by helping communities prepare for and respond to weather, water, and climate hazards. Our mission is to protect lives and property and enhance the national economy through timely, accurate, and trusted information.
The federal hiring process can feel unfamiliar or overwhelming, especially for first-time applicants. This page brings together clear guidance, practical tips, and resources to help you understand what to expect as you explore opportunities to serve the public through the NWS!
Careers at the National Weather Service
Working at the NWS means contributing directly to public safety and national resilience. Employees help deliver timely, reliable information that supports communities before, during, and after hazardous weather and water events.
Our workforce includes meteorologists, hydrologists, scientists, information technology specialists, communicators, and administrative professionals located across the country. NWS employees collaborate with partners at the local, state, tribal, and federal levels and support a wide range of operational, scientific, and mission-support functions nationwide.
Current Job Openings
Job openings with the NWS and NOAA are posted on USAJobs.gov.
Applicants can explore current NWS vacancies and NOAA-wide job opportunities.
Each job announcement includes information about duties, qualifications, required documents, and application deadlines. Applicants should review announcements carefully before applying.
Benefits of Working with Us
The NWS offers a comprehensive benefits package that supports employee well-being, professional growth, and work-life balance.
Work-Life Balance
- Flexible work schedules*
- Paid holidays*
- Separate annual and sick leave accrued
- Family Leave
Health and Wellness
- Medical benefits
- Life insurance options
- Health and wellness programs
Career and Community
- Incentives and awards
- Employee resource groups
- Professional development opportunities
Retirement and Financial Security
- Retirement & Savings Plans
*If applicable. Some positions require working on holidays.
How to Apply
Applying for a federal position through USAJobs requires an account and profile on login.gov.
To apply for a position, carefully review the desired job announcement and prepare the appropriate application materials. The application must meet specific requirements in order to be reviewed.
Application Requirements
- Citizenship: You must be a United States citizen
- Resume Length: Resumes must be no more than 2 pages. If more than two pages are submitted, only the first two pages will be reviewed for eligibility and qualifications.
- No Photos: Resumes with photos cannot be reviewed and will be disqualified.
- Identifying Part-Time Work: Clearly identify part-time hours per week. If not listed, work will be assumed to be full-time. Typically, part-time schedules are between 16-32 hours per week.
Resume Tips and Best Practices
USAjobs allows applicants to store and submit multiple resumes, making it easier to tailor applications for different job series or positions. Many applicants maintain a longer “master resume” to work from.
The following recommendations can help strengthen your resume:
- Highlight directly relevant experience: Focus on work directly related to the position. Summarize unrelated roles briefly. Omit or shorten tasks that do not support the qualifications.
- Word choice: Match the language in the job announcement. Do not assume reviewers will be familiar with your specialty and infer experience.
- Describe experience level: Clearly indicate whether you supported a task or led it.
- Be specific: Use concrete examples and numbers rather than broad statements.
- Be concise but thorough: Use bullet points to clearly address every requirement listed in the announcement. Maintain enough detail to describe the complexity of your work.
- Simple Formatting: Use the USAJobs resume builder or follow the USAJobs suggestions for resume file type and styles.
- Time Management: Don’t wait until the last day to complete and review the required materials.
Examples:
Supporting Role:Assisted in the preparation of daily weather briefings by compiling and organizing meteorological data for lead meteorologist review.
Ownership Role: Led the development and execution of a new data analysis protocol, improving the accuracy of severe weather predictions by 15%.
Cover Letters
Applicants are highly encouraged to include a cover letter that highlights accomplishments, certifications, and awards. While the cover letter is not used to determine qualifications, it is provided to the hiring manager as part of the application package.
Essays and Written Statements
Most job applications include short essay questions designed to better understand your experience, perspective, and approach to public service. While responses are not required and are not rated, you are encouraged to address each question thoughtfully. They are provided to the hiring manager as part of the application package.
Essay Guidelines
- Maximum of 200 words per response
- Responses must be written in your own words
- Applicants must attest that no version of AI was used
- Write in a clear, personal voice
- Use specific examples rather than general statements
- Align with mission and policy when applicable
Essay Questions:
- Commitment to the Constitution – How have the Constitution and founding principles inspired you to pursue a federal role? Use a personal, academic, or professional example.
- Improving Government Efficiency – How would you use your skills to make government more efficient or effective? Include specific examples where you improved outcomes, reduced costs, or streamlined processes.
- Advancing Executive Orders or Policies – How would you support key Presidential Executive Orders or policy initiatives in this role? Pick 1–2 relevant policies and explain how you'd help apply them.
Strong Work Ethic – How has your work ethic contributed to your success, and how will it help in this position? Give 1–2 specific examples from your academic, professional, or personal life.
Required Documentation
The documents required for an application vary by position and eligibility. Always refer to the required documents section of the job announcement.
Depending on the positions, applicants may be required to submit:
- Resume
- SF50 for current or former federal employees
- Unofficial transcripts for positions with education requirement
- Certificates or licenses, if required
- Veterans:
- A copy of your latest DD214 that shows the character of service
- VA letter that shows dates of service or service connected disability AND character of service
- SF15 – If you are eligible to claim 10 point veterans preference. You must submit supporting documentation (e.g. disability letter from the VA, and DD214) as described on Standard Form-15 (SF-15)
- Individuals with disabilities applying under special hiring authority: Schedule A letter
Assessments and Hiring Process
The hiring process may include skills-based and competency-based assessments designed to evaluate how applicants perform job-related tasks. These assessments are separate from the written essays and are used only for certain positions.
Competencies describe the knowledge, skills, abilities, behaviors and characteristics needed to perform job functions successfully, not just what tasks are completed.
Technical and alternative assessments:
- Allows applicants to demonstrate essential skills
- Provide insight beyond resumes and education
- Help agencies make a more informed hiring decision
Some assessments measure general competencies, such as reading comprehension or decision-making, while others measure technical skills related to the position and grade level.
Applicants may access USA Hire practice assessments prior to applying.
Applicant Resources
Meteorologist Qualification Standards
Describes the specific Meteorologist Education requirements and applicable courses.USAJobs How-To Guides
Various topics for federal job seekers including Resume Building and the Federal Application process.USAJobs Application Process FAQs
Addresses the steps of the Federal Application process and applicant tracker capabilities. -
Projection Ruling Calls for Trigonometry and a Deft Touch
Projection Ruling Calls for Trigonometry and a Deft Touch
Barbara Clayton and Patricia Hayes draw longitude and latitude lines on what will become maps for use in WWII, using the USC&GS projection ruling machine. 1944. (Image credit: NOAA) 0Off0 -
A 'stone cold' look: My internship assessing the modeling potential of the Rapid-Refresh Forecast System
A 'stone cold' look: My internship assessing the modeling potential of the Rapid-Refresh Forecast System
This is a screenshot of the RRFS Reflectivity, showing how the model can represent individual thunderstorms. (Image credit: Jonathan Douglas)
My name is Jonathan Douglas, a Hollings scholar and senior studying meteorology at the University of Oklahoma. I have always been intrigued by severe weather, especially thunderstorms that produce damaging hail. While our forecasting capabilities for these types of severe weather have vastly improved over the past few decades, there are still weaknesses in modelling the location and intensity of severe hailstorms, reducing preparedness for these storms in areas that will be impacted.
During my project, I assessed the skill of the Rapid-Refresh Forecast System (RRFS), a model currently in development at the Global Systems Lab (GSL) in Boulder, Colorado. My mentor Amanda Back and I assessed how well this model simulated strong thunderstorm updrafts and hail production compared to storms observed by weather radar using 154 hours of severe weather observations from this spring.
This is a screenshot of the RRFS Reflectivity, showing how the model can represent individual thunderstorms.(Image credit: Jonathan Douglas) From here, I looked at two different aspects of the model:
- First, I quantified how well the model generated storms at the right place and time compared to observations.
- Second, I compared the sizes of hail between the model and observations to determine whether simulated hail was larger or smaller than radar estimates. This helps show whether the model can be trusted for hail forecasting, or whether it needs improvement before its implementation.
I found that while the RRFS model seems to do well with replicating the placement of storms at the right time, it struggles more than other existing models with storm strength. Storms from this model are shown to be smaller than other models and observations: they reach lower maximum heights, contain less water, and lack intensity. However, RRFS improved on representing hail growth, being the model with hail sizes closest to observations.
Overall, I found this research to be very interesting and fulfilling, growing skills needed to continue meteorological research after I graduate.
Jonathan Douglas, 2024 Hollings scholar
Jonathan is a class of 2024 Hollings scholar and is studying meteorology at the University of Oklahoma.
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