What You'll Do

  • Recommend new systems and processes to improve operations.
  • Keep abreast of new biochemistries, instrumentation, or software by reading scientific literature and attending professional conferences.
  • Confer with departments, such as marketing, business development, or operations, to coordinate product development or improvement.
  • Collaborate with software developers in the development and modification of commercial bioinformatics software.
  • Test new and updated bioinformatics tools and software.
  • Provide statistical and computational tools for biologically based activities, such as genetic analysis, measurement of gene expression, or gene function determination.
  • Prepare summary statistics of information regarding human genomes.
  • Instruct others in the selection and use of bioinformatics tools.
  • Improve user interfaces to bioinformatics software and databases.
  • Direct the work of technicians and information technology staff applying bioinformatics tools or applications in areas such as proteomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, or clinical bioinformatics.

Essential Skills

Reading Comprehension 4.12/5
Critical Thinking 4.12/5
Active Listening 4.0/5
Speaking 4.0/5
Complex Problem Solving 4.0/5
Writing 3.88/5
Science 3.75/5
Active Learning 3.62/5
Judgment and Decision Making 3.62/5
Mathematics 3.5/5
Monitoring 3.38/5
Time Management 3.38/5

Career Fit Overview

Use this summary to sense whether the day to day rhythm and focus of this path line up with what energizes you.

Top passions

  • Analyst: Investigating problems and finding patterns keeps you engaged.
  • Organizer: Bringing order to data and processes satisfies you.
  • Maker: Building and fixing energizes you. You like tangible results and practical tools.

Common styles

Analytical Thinking, Attention to Detail, Persistence, Integrity, Dependability

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Key Abilities

This career demands strong capabilities in the following areas:

Written Comprehension 4.25/5
Written Expression 4.25/5
Oral Comprehension 4.12/5
Oral Expression 4.0/5
Problem Sensitivity 4.0/5
Deductive Reasoning 4.0/5
Inductive Reasoning 4.0/5
Information Ordering 4.0/5

Technologies & Tools

Accelrys Pipeline Pilot Amazon Web Services AWS software Apache Accumulo Apache Groovy Apache Hadoop Apache HTTP Server Bash Bioconductor Bioconductor software Biomatters Geneious BioPerl BLAT Bowtie BWA C C# C++ Canu ClustalW Cufflinks

Work Environment & Style

Common Styles for This Career

  • Analytical Thinking (High importance: 4.85/5)
  • Attention to Detail (High importance: 4.54/5)
  • Persistence (High importance: 4.51/5)
  • Integrity (High importance: 4.49/5)
  • Dependability (High importance: 4.48/5)

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How to Become One

This career requires extensive preparation, typically including a graduate degree (Master's or Doctoral) and several years of experience. Most professionals in this field have invested significant time in education and training.

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Also Known As

This career is known by many different job titles across industries. Here are all the variations:

Bioinformatician Bioinformaticist Bioinformatics Analyst Bioinformatics Associate Bioinformatics Computer Scientist Bioinformatics Consultant Bioinformatics Data Analyst Bioinformatics Developer Bioinformatics Engineer Bioinformatics Research Scientist Bioinformatics Research Specialist Bioinformatics Scientist Bioinformatics Specialist Bioinformatics Support Specialist Computational Biologist Data Analyst Drug Discovery Informatics Specialist Genetics Bioinformatics Analyst Genomics Specialist Laboratory Bioinformatics Analyst Microarray Analyst Microarray Specialist Molecular Modeler Oncology Bioinformatics Analyst Programmer Analyst Research Associate Research Scientist Scientific Database Curator Scientist Statistical Genetic Analyst Systems Analyst