Employers

Bioinformatics specialists are employed by government, medical, and academic research laboratories; the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries; computer hardware and software companies that serve bioinformatics-related industries; and health informatics companies. They also work as researchers and teachers at colleges and universities. Highly-skilled bioinformatics specialists can open their own consulting firms and/or become respected speakers and writers about the field.

Starting Out

Job leads can be obtained with the assistance of college career services offices, contacts made through internships, and by contacting companies and organizations that employ bioinformatics specialists to inquire about potential openings. Professional associations, such as the International Society for Computational Biology, provide job listings at their Web sites.

With experience, bioinformatics specialists can advance to supervisory or management roles with their organizations or move to better-paying jobs at larger companies or organizations. Some bioinformatics specialists become college professors or consultants.

Read publications such as Bioinformatics (https://academic.oup.com/bioinformatics) to learn more about the field.

Visit the following Web sites for job listings:

• https://careers.iscb.org
• http://www.bioinformatics.org/jobs
• https://www.newscientist.com/nsj
• https://www.dice.com/jobs?q=bioinformatics

Join professional associations such as the International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) to access training and networking resources, industry publications, and employment opportunities.

Attend industry conventions held by the ISCB and other organizations to network and to interview for jobs.