Name: Mike O'Connor (31)
Job title: MetService meteorologist
Q How long have you been in the job?
A I've been working here for eight years but my first year was as an intern so I've been an operational forecaster for seven years now.
Q What are the high points of the job?
A I guess we're all - here at the MetService - pretty passionate about weather so we all get a real buzz out of the weather and learning about the weather.
Meteorology itself is a really interesting science so that gives you a bit of a kick.
Being a forecaster, it's shift work so it doesn't suit a lot of people's lifestyles.
But for us, who like to get out and about, it's quite good.
I get to have time off in the middle of the week or get fair chunks of the day to be able to go surfing and what not.
Q What are the low points?
A You can get some negative reaction from the public but we don't get it first-hand. Probably another negative of the job is doing nightshift.
Sometimes that can be really hard.
Lack of sleep can be an issue, especially when everyone's going on holiday and having a bit of fun, it can be a little bit of a bane.
But we get our own back.
We can take time off later in the year.
I'm not tied to take leave when everyone has to.
You don't get super big highs or lows, it's quite consistent.
Q Describe a normal day ofwork.
A I am currently in an area called "marine consultancy'' and I'm doing forecasts for some gas and oil companies and some shipping companies.
So first we get in and I've got a number of these jobs and they're scattered all around the world.
So on a shift I might have four big forecasts and for each forecast you start out by looking at what the current situation is, looking at observations, satellite images, radars and then you start looking at model data and comparing data.
You do that to write your forecast.
So if I do four of those, that usually takes up an eight or nine hour shift.
Q Do you normally work through the summer holidays, and if so, why?
A Weather forecasting is 24/7 and so even over the Christmas and summer period people are more likely to be checking the weather and it's just an all-round thing.
Weather doesn't take a holiday.
During these holiday periods, it's one of the most important periods for us so we're super vigilant and we give things an extra bit of thought leading up to this period.
Q Do you get paid more?
A Yeah, if it's a statutory holiday we do get paid more and we also get a day in lieu.
Being a shift worker, if you work outside of normal work hours you also get a shift allowance.
I'm not too sure about the whole pay thing.
I just turn up and do it.
Q If you were on holiday where would you be?
A I'm a surfer so I would be picking spots that are good for surfing and actually Dunedin is one of the best spots in New Zealand for surfing and that sounds quite corny because I'm talking to you.
I usually go down to Dunedin once a year so that's definitely one of my favourite places to go on holiday.
I've still got some good mates down there.
I love being in the South Island particularly.
Q Does it annoy you that you're at work while everyone else is on holiday?
A It can do but sometimes you're just resigned to the fact that you're working.
If you're leaving like a party or something, it can be hard, but often you've already planned to go to work so it's just what you're doing.
It's a lot quieter this time of year.
It's not as hectic and that can be quite a nice change.
Q Are you able to bunk off more easily during the holiday period?
A We have a set amount of forecasts that we have to do during our shift and they pretty much fill up your whole shift and that's your set tasks that you've got to do.
You don't have the option to slack off.
I think we can be a bit more rambunctious but we still have to do our forecasts so we don't really have that much room to slack off.
If it's a quiet day and there's not much weather going on, then you have a bit more down time but normally our shifts are pretty full-on.
