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Career Exploration

Bioinformatics Technicians

Also called: Bioinformatics Analyst, Bioinformatics Specialist, Biotechnician, Scientific Informatics Analyst

What they do:

Apply principles and methods of bioinformatics to assist scientists in areas such as pharmaceuticals, medical technology, biotechnology, computational biology, proteomics, computer information science, biology and medical informatics. Apply bioinformatics tools to visualize, analyze, manipulate or interpret molecular data. May build and maintain databases for processing and analyzing genomic or other biological information.

On the job, you would:
  • Analyze or manipulate bioinformatics data using software packages, statistical applications, or data mining techniques.
  • Extend existing software programs, web-based interactive tools, or database queries as sequence management and analysis needs evolve.
  • Maintain awareness of new and emerging computational methods and technologies.
On the job, you'll need:

Engineering and Technology

  • computers and electronics

Math and Science

  • arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics
  • biology

Arts and Humanities

  • English language

Basic Skills

  • reading work related information
  • figuring out how to use new ideas or things

Problem Solving

  • noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it

People and Technology Systems

  • thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one
  • figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it

Verbal

  • read and understand what is written
  • listen and understand what people say

Ideas and Logic

  • make general rules or come up with answers from lots of detailed information
  • use rules to solve problems

Math

  • choose the right type of math to solve a problem
  • add, subtract, multiply, or divide

Attention

  • pay attention to something without being distracted

Investigative

People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out.

  • Attention to Detail
  • Cooperation
  • Analytical Thinking
  • Achievement/Effort
  • Dependability
  • Initiative

Analytical or scientific software

  • IBM SPSS Statistics
  • The MathWorks MATLAB

Presentation software

  • Microsoft PowerPoint

Object or component oriented development software

  • Perl
  • R

Video courtesy of CareerOneStop.

Job Outlook

The job outlook for this position is Bright.

New job opportunities are very likely in the future. This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Median Annual Salary: $71,700

Education

Bachelor's degree or master's degree is usually needed.