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FAQ: Do I really want to work in TV News/Weather when I grow up?
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10) What are the hours like? Is is possible to have a family, and be a meteorologist? Well the hours for any news job pretty much suck so I'll warn you about that right now! My favorite shift is actually working weekends! Most stations have 3 weather shifts: Mornings: get up at 2:30 am prep show, do makeup and be on the air at 5-7am, do cut-ins from 7-9 and do the noon show 12-12:30 or 12-1 depending on the station. (I just got off this show...some people like this schedule because it leaves the afternoon free but I thought I was going to die! I never could make myself go to bed early! I was tired all the time and finally begged to go back to weekends! However it is a very fun show...you get to chit-chat with the anchors all the time and really have fun in the early hours. Evenings: This is the Chief Meteorlogist's shift so it can take awhile to work up to it..there's a lot more pressure to be very good on this shift since it is the station's bread and butter! The chief gets in at about 2-2:30pm does that 5pm and 6 pm shows (sometimes more...there was a 5, 5:30,6, 6:30 in Boston...whew!). Then there is an 11:00pm show (or 10:00 in the midwest and some fox stations)...so you don't get home until midnight and it's hard to go right to bed! Weekends: I have worked every shift over the years and this is my favorite shift by far. I sometimes work some long days but I live close to work and go home between shows.. there is no management there on the weekend so it's very casual. I come in wearing jeans and just get into a suit right before the show. Weekend anchors are often wearing shorts behind the desk on weekends! In Boston I had 3 days off during the week, worked a couple short days reporting (which I learned how to do at my first job...if you can tell a good story you can learn to report..you just have to make the effort to ask questions and learn). On the weekend I did shows at 7am, 5pm, 6pm and 11pm. A long day but by living close to work I could run home between shows and actually found it very relaxing. I recently switched from weekday mornings to weekend mornings at 10 am. I work the noon show 3 days a ways and I am also working on a skiing and snowboarding show for the winter which I will be hosting and which I hope to turn in to my next career! The really great thing about TV is that once you have been in TV news you can get a job just about anywhere. By understanding how the media works and learning how to tell great stories, meeting deadlines to the second, reading press releases and all the other stuff we do every day you become a valuable employee to just about anyone...many people get out of TV after several years...because it is very demanding and the hours are hard. But I think it's an absolutely great career to start out with because it gives you such great experience in so many things! And, yes you absolutely can have a family and most women do! Most moms work the morning or weekend shows so they have lots of time with their kids. If you do good work you can easily settle down in a mid-size market and stay there a very long time. I'd say the best thing to do would be to jump on that career for a few years...move around to the best job opportunities available to build experience and then look for an opening wherever you like to settle down and have a family. As far as looking at colleges...I didn't go to a fancy school and I've done just fine. I think the most important consideration is to find one that is close to a small TV market where you can do an internship and possibly even get your first TV job while you are still in school (that way you don't have to start at $6.25 after you graduate...I was lucky to get away with only 4 months...you usually have to sign a contract for at least 2 years...so get it over with while you are going to school...even if that means it'll take you longer to graduate...you'll probably be moving to a much better job as soon as you are done with school). Get the experience while you are in school and you will be set when you graduate. So...look for schools near a small TV market with an Atmospheric Science, Meteorology or earth science degree and you'll be off and running! Be sure to check out the AMS web site ... www.ametsoc.org they have a list of the colleges with Meteorology and Atmospheric Science degrees. You can also look at the requirement for the new CBM seal which you'll want to get after you have some on-air experience(it used to be the AMS seal) Most of the courses should be covered by your college degree but you'll definitely want to pick courses that work well for both or choose electives accordingly....and of course you can take electives on speaking, reporting etc...that would certainly be helpful too! <MORE> |
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