FlightWay / Careers / Hydrologists
Engineering & Science
Hydrologists
Research the distribution, circulation, and physical properties of underground and surface waters; and study the form and intensity of precipitation and its rate of infiltration into the soil, move…
- Sector: Engineering & Science
- Preparation: Zone 5 — extensive preparation needed
- O*NET code: 19-2043.00
What you'll actually do
The activities O*NET rates highest for this occupation, most important first. Numbers are out of 100.
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Analyzing Data or Information
central to the job — rated 96/100 for importance.
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Getting Information
central to the job — rated 91/100 for importance.
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Working with Computers
central to the job — rated 91/100 for importance.
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Making Decisions and Solving Problems
central to the job — rated 86/100 for importance.
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Documenting/Recording Information
a major part of the work — rated 82/100 for importance.
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Processing Information
a major part of the work — rated 80/100 for importance.
Research the distribution, circulation, and physical properties of underground and surface waters; and study the form and intensity of precipitation and its rate of infiltration into the soil, movement through the earth, and return to the ocean and atmosphere.
What it takes
Two numbers per line: the level the work expects, and how important it is to doing the job well. Both are O*NET ratings, already on a 0–100 scale.
Skills
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Critical Thinking
Needed at a high level (64/100), and rated 75/100 for importance.
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Reading Comprehension
Needed at a high level (66/100), and rated 72/100 for importance.
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Science
Needed at a high level (63/100), and rated 72/100 for importance.
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Active Listening
Needed at a solid working level (57/100), and rated 72/100 for importance.
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Mathematics
Needed at a high level (63/100), and rated 69/100 for importance.
Knowledge
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Mathematics
Needed at expert level (83/100), and rated 84/100 for importance.
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Physics
Needed at a high level (71/100), and rated 78/100 for importance.
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Engineering and Technology
Needed at a high level (70/100), and rated 75/100 for importance.
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English Language
Needed at a high level (65/100), and rated 73/100 for importance.
Abilities
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Oral Comprehension
Needed at a high level (71/100), and rated 75/100 for importance.
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Written Comprehension
Needed at a high level (71/100), and rated 75/100 for importance.
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Oral Expression
Needed at a high level (70/100), and rated 75/100 for importance.
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Written Expression
Needed at a high level (66/100), and rated 75/100 for importance.
How people get in
O*NET places this occupation in Zone 5 — extensive preparation needed. That is a statement about what employers typically require, not a rule about you.
Education
Graduate school — a master's, a PhD, an MD or a JD, depending on the field.
Experience
More than five years of related experience is common before the title is yours.
Training
This is a long runway. Start the prerequisites early or the timeline slips a year at a time.
What it pays
These are typical science compensation bands by employer tier — sector-level figures, not a measured salary for Hydrologists specifically. Treat them as the shape of the market, then check a real posting for the number.
Pfizer · Nat"l Labs · MIT
$110k – $200k
Biotech & Pharma Mid
$90k – $160k
Startups & Academia
$65k – $110k
How the work tends to run
Each line below is read off a single O*NET activity rating for this occupation — named, so you can disagree with it.
- Most of the day happens at a screen.From “Working with Computers”
- Part of the job is other people’s output, not only your own.From “Coordinating the Work and Activities of Others”
- You own decisions rather than execute someone else’s.From “Making Decisions and Solving Problems”
How FlightWay scores your fit against this
No black box. Here is the whole method, factor by factor.
- 1. You answer a short quiz
- Your answers build a profile across the same 161 O*NET dimensions this page is describing — skills, knowledge, abilities and work activities. Same axes, so the comparison is like-for-like.
- 2. We correlate the two profiles
- Fit is a mean-centered cosine — a correlation between the SHAPE of your profile and the shape of Hydrologists. Centering matters: raw similarity between any two occupations sits at 0.70–0.85 because all work shares a common profile, so without it every career would look like a match.
- 3. The number you see is personality fit only
- "Would I want this work" and "am I ready for this work" are different questions, and averaging them answers neither. So readiness — what your résumé, coursework and projects prove — is scored separately and shown next to fit, never blended into it.
- 4. Every factor is visible
- You can open any match and see which dimensions pushed it up and which pulled it down. If you disagree with the number, you can see exactly where it came from.
More in Engineering & Science
See your fit for Hydrologists
Ten questions, about 90 seconds. You get your match against Hydrologists and 782+ other real careers — with the reasoning shown.
Take the quiz Open in FlightWayOccupational data on this page comes from the O*NET 30.3 Database, published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). O*NET is a registered trademark of USDOL/ETA. FlightWay is not endorsed by, and USDOL/ETA is not responsible for, anything built on that data — see our terms. What is ours is the comparison, the score and the plan.