I want to get a job in bio-related programming - what should I do next?

[Kristen]

I want to work as a programmer for a biology-related company, and I don’t know how to get started.

Background: I have an M.S. in Bioengineering from Stanford and spent two and a half years working as an R&D engineer for a medical device startup. In October, I quit my job to teach myself programming full time. I did projects in Python, Scheme, Java, and Prolog, covering a first-year CS sequence plus plenty of extra reading. I’ve also experimented with HTML/CSS/JavaScript.

I am most interested in the intersection of biology and computer science, anything from bioinformatics to personal genomics. Within that still broad field, I’m trying to figure out the specific type of programming job that will most interest me and how to get the experience to land those jobs. I presently live in the Bay Area (Menlo Park), though long-term I would like to work primarily from home.

I feel very inexperienced, and I’m concerned that any company I interview with will reject me because of inexperience. Or that I’ll land a job where they expect me to know from the beginning more than I do.

What should I do next? Are there particular things I should learn or types of jobs I should pursue to move down this career path?

[MoreMoschops]

Find the people who currently hire for such jobs. Tell them what you want to do, ask them what they look for in candidates. Turn yourself into the candidate they're looking for.

This works for all other jobs too.

[bap]

Not to sound trite but:

Start a project.

You will learn all sorts of things about project management in a software development setting. Source code organization, etc. You will gain domain knowledge of whatever technology stack you decide to deploy against, be that desktop software or some kind of web based server stack. You will find challenges where you least expect them (typically where you've made a poor assumption) and at the end you'll have something to show for your effort that will be much more effect than a few lines on a resume.

As I am not deeply involved in bio-related software dev I'm afraid I can't offer you any kind of concrete project ideas. The last time I did anything biology related was when played around with visualizing genome datasets.

[a_dy]

I am a grad student in Bioinformatics, and I have my BS in Biology.

I'd say that the field is limited by computer science, not biology. Especially in the high-throughput sequencing field. Currently, the acceleration of DNA sequencing data production is out-pacing Moore's law. It costs more to analyze DNA sequences than to generate them. Also, for some reason, CS people don't seem to be that attracted to bioinformatics.

So, I'd suggest stating focused on CS and Statistics. The biology that you would need to learn in order to understand current hard problems is easy to pick up.

Have you looked at Counsyl?

[a_dy]

I forgot to mention: people in academia are accustomed to having their data analyzed for free. Now that that's no longer feasible: they're learning how to pay for it ;)

[anayini]

Check out the website for Halcyon Molecular. They are experimenting with new ways to sequence the human genome using electron microscopy. Naturally, aside from bioengineers and materials engineers they are interested in bioinformatics. There might be a nice way to start in the more bioengineering focused areas of the company and transition into bioinformatics. (halcyonmolecular.com)

good luck

[tunaslut]

I would suggest looking at your closest centre for disease control.....they often have bio-related IT needs. Forget about your inexperience because I can assure you the quality of CVs coming through the door is pretty atrocious (I'm sifting through job apps at the moment - probably 60% of the applications haven't ever even tried to code)

[devjen44]

I'm starting a genomic software company in Berkeley - I'd be happy to chat sometime.

devon insertAThere enlis.com

http://www.enlis.com/

[stevetjoa]

You could follow material posted online. For example, last semester, I sat in on this class: http://cbcb.umd.edu/confcour/CMSC828H-syllabus.html

If you are a bioengineering MS and know Python, then by studying the materials and journal papers, you may be able to do the assignments. At least it will give you an idea of the important problems and existing approaches.

[iloveprettycode]

I'd suggest taking some bioinformatics/computational biology classes at Stanford/Berkeley/major university wherever you are. You'll learn some algorithms, and data structures related to bioinformatics and probably work on a class project. Do well, and I'm sure the professor has connections in industry to help you out.

[geekam]

This is of interest to me. I have a computer science background and would like to know more about bioinformatics. I have been looking for specific, easy, midlevel and big projects so that I can start learning the trade.

I know that NCBI is a good organization for such a field.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

[sfrench]

Check out the JGI, their office is in Walnut Creek (you'd have to commute a bit, but it's exactly what you're looking for I'd assume)

http://www.jgi.doe.gov/whoweare/employment.php