Supporting Early Career Members at RMetS

The Royal Meteorological Society (RMetS) recognises the need to support its early career members in order to nurture their careers and to increase the likelihood that they become lifelong and active members of RMetS. As such, RMetS has introduced a number of initiatives and is continuing to introduce more membership benefits to support this important membership group.

Mentoring Scheme

Many organisations offer mentoring schemes to new staff or all staff. However, at RMetS we recognise the wealth of expertise available across our membership and that people might benefit from mentoring from outside their organisation. This might be because they need guidance on the next step in their career, are thinking of moving between organisations, or changing careers from research to operational work, or just because they can’t find the right person within their own organisation. We therefore offer something unique to our members, with mentoring pairings from across RMetS, and meetings usually taking place virtually.

The pilot phase of the scheme was run in 2016/2017, is now open throughout the year on an ongoing basis so that members can sign up as a mentee – or mentor – throughout the year, with regular calls for participants being released. Once we have paired up our mentees with an appropriate match, we arrange a remote introductory meet up via Skype in order to get to know each other, learn about the scheme, set expectations, allow for discussion regarding their mentoring relationship (i.e. objectives, regularity meet-ups, format etc.) and to complete a mentoring agreement. For more information, visit: https://www.rmets.org/mentoring

Annual Student and Early Career Scientists Conference

RMetS runs a very popular Annual Student and Early Career Conference. In 2016 it was decided to more widely promote the conference to early career scientists – both from the UK and overseas – in order to provide an opportunity for them to present their work in a friendly environment as well as to network and get to know fellow scientists. The conference includes keynote speakers, poster sessions, oral presentations, and social events including icebreaker activities, a conference dinner and a photographic competition.

The 2018 student and early career conference, ‘Evolution of Science: Past, Present and Future’, will be held at University of York on the 5th and 6th July (directly after the main RMetS conference). For more information visit https://www.rmets.org/evolutionofscience18

Registered Meteorologist (RMet) Scheme

In 2014 RMetS launched its Registered Meteorologist (RMet) scheme (https://www.rmets.org/rmet-home). RMet is a professional qualification awarded by the RMetS for members pursuing a career in meteorology, or working in a role supporting meteorological services.  Registered Meteorologist (RMet) is an accreditation aimed at early career professionals. It is ideal for meteorologists who seek professional accreditation, and can assist with further career development. Although many professional meteorologists work in organisations with management structures and offices, RMetS welcomes applications for RMet accreditation from individuals who work alone as meteorological consultants. In these circumstances, the requirements and procedures for the scheme may be adapted on a case-by-case basis to facilitate such applications whilst remaining within the spirit of the scheme as described here. To-date there are 125 RMet accredited members.

Our recently-updated ACCSYS (Accreditation and Continuing Professional Development (CPD)) system is used by our members to apply for our accreditation schemes, as well as to keep a record of their CPD activities – this is a perfect tool for early career professionals who need documented evidence as part of their accreditation and for their career development.

Jobs Board

The RMetS Jobs Board (jobs.rmets.org) was launched in spring 2017 and is fast becoming the hub for jobs dedicated to meteorology, climate science and related fields, attracting thousands of visits each month from across the world.  Job-seekers can also sign-up for daily, weekly or monthly job alerts, as well as create a profile, including a short bio and CV, to quickly and easily apply for jobs.

Future Plans

More support for early career members is planned for the coming year, such as resources to assist those changing careers. We are also planning a survey of this group in order to determine how best RMetS can further assist and develop the careers of our early career members.

Catherine Muller
Head of Public Engagement, RMetS