ISCB-SC:Careers:Draft

Please discuss this on the discussion page.

Regular pathways to find a job

 * 1) Web search. Any one can do. ( This is already available for web surfers. Not much help in giving just links, although we should put up some good ones).
 * 2) Contacts with known people – Sources are : form a network, workplace, friends, previous class mates etc. (We should facilitate this by using our website as a means to meet and discuss)
 * 3) Start out with internships. (We should be able to contact companies which have an interest in Bioinformatics and help some people get internships. This will work well if we have regional groups telling us about local companies. Going for local internships might save on travel costs etc. which might be a hurdle to getting internships)
 * 4) Assistance from the college where you study: on campus interviews. We can work with the college recruitment people to see if something can be done.
 * 5) Join self help organizations like ISCB - SC - local groups.
 * 6) Form a network between employers and help groups to help employ people. We can help people make contacts.

What kinds of jobs are there?

 * There are research jobs
 * There are industrial jobs
 * There are teaching/training jobs.

Each job can be at beginner, intermediate or advance level. Since the industry is young, we can give some indication of the skill sets needed for each level. We can find out about new application areas in bioinformatics etc.

We need to map the courses available in most universities to the jobs that are available in most places.


 * Is there a match ?
 * How can we help people select courses where jobs will be in demand when they graduate?

We need to talk to the hiring people to see what their requirement is, to employ bioinformatics people and point them to universities where their requirements are found. We need to know what is their experience in hiring people currently and may be take that information back to the universities/students (put on our web page). Need a list:
 * Who are the people who hire bioinformatics people ?
 * what are they looking for..?
 * What are the requirements for hire? Earlier, Current and Future. (How is the industry changing and what will be future needs.)
 * what are the main topics of interest ? Find out the different areas of interest where it is possible to be employed.
 * What are the skill sets for each type of employment ?
 * What are the programming languages expected to be learnt ?
 * what is the market demand in the past, present and future (numbers)

What role can ISMB-SC play in helping people get:


 * 1) Internship?
 * 2) Employment?

While we cannot be go between.. there must be something from the membership with SC or local groups, which will help people to get their foot in the door. Just giving job links on our page will not be enough. We MUST play some role.

Please feel free to add your thoughts to the document. In order to keep track of changes, I am sending this document to Nils first. He can add his thoughts ( change draft number) and designate the next person who will be looking at it and that person will name the next person. This way we can circulate the document and avoid overwrites. Everyone who adds content, Please add your name to the list below, so that we will know who has already seen this document.

Original draft contributed by Saraswathi Sundararajan.