I work at the broad institute and it's a pretty cool place, can be long hours but they're investing heavily in software and the like. Can be a nice intermediate between research and applications
Consider working on genomics
61–70 of 299 posts
Re: Consider working on genomics
#62I've been a software engineer in this space. I just want to say that there is exactly 1 job (non-intern) job between Microsoft, Google and Amazon listed according to the search links provided in the article.
What is the significance of that observation?
Re: Consider working on genomics
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ever since the pandemic, many software engineers have become exactly the type of "I've got mine, Jack" people they typically deride.
Or, and hear me out here for a second, people go where they’re most valued. Why would someone volunteer to go work somewhere where they’ll get less money, have less flexibility, be treated as second-class employees, have less work perks, etc. when so many alternatives exist? Doubly so in this economy. Maybe genetic companies should catch up in workplace etiquette instead of recommending that SWE’s lower their expecta…
> be treated as second-class employees
The pay isn't all that important to me, as long as I can live on it, but this. It was so obvious when I was working in academia that because I wasn't myself an academic that I was just lab help, no better than the person who washes the test tubes and beakers.
Re: Consider working on genomics
#64Can you provide a list of the top problems in that space? Much rather try to understand them deeply myself and build a company solving them than just getting a job.
This please. I would love to start working on (or create from scratch) some software that helps people in that field.
Re: Consider working on genomics
#65I hope this FAANG downturn will push software engineers to new industries, and bring some cross-pollination. What happens when the world's most brillant minds do something else than making us click on more ads ?
If academics embraced software and software developers as heartily as advertisers did, you'd see that result. Until they do, I expect you'll continue to see a bunch of skepticism from developers.
Re: Consider working on genomics
#66I work at the broad institute and it's a pretty cool place, can be long hours but they're investing heavily in software and the like. Can be a nice intermediate between research and applications
You're not exactly selling it...
Re: Consider working on genomics
#67Those who are interested in the Broad Institute can reach out directly to me at mdelamaz@broadinstitute.org
Do you do fully remote positions, from non-US timezones (eg. Western Europe)?
Re: Consider working on genomics
#68I’ve had a growing interest in the power of DNA and what the data can be used for since discovering no less than 3 family secrets (one of which pertaining to me) after taking an Ancestry DNA test. Did I know I was going to find 18 half siblings the moment my results came in? Nope, but yet there they are, listed in order of most shared DNA. Despite my interest, I’ve found that landing a job in this field at my desired…
Yeah the low pay is one thing, but in my experience a lot of the academic jobs seem to want a domain scientist who can do programming, not the other way around.
Re: Consider working on genomics
#69Sorry, no. This was my dream area to work in and I obsessed over degree programs in bioinformatics many years ago. Then I realized it’s incredibly low paying for the work, finding work in the area was a chore, and a masters might not even get your foot in the door. Nothing communicated that you would be valued. The harsh reality of the world won out in the end.
Re: Consider working on genomics
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
At least one of the entities on that list is a nonprofit academic institution. Expecting pay equal to the standard software industry is misguided. Whether or not that's a tradeoff you're willing to make is another question.
If you go to academia, you're certainly are not going for the money. People can work for less if they are visibly valued, or where they are doing some heroic stuff that appeals to them personally. People can for some time withstand being treated as second class, being overworked, etc, if they are paid a lot. But if it's neither, why would anyone bother?
> But if it's neither, why would anyone bother?
Because they find it rewarding in some other way? I agree that that way is not the conventional wisdom, but it exists, it turns out that some people value doing things that provide a demonstrable benefit to humanity.
Also he second class citizen thing has diminished over the years. It still exists but there are plenty of companies where that's no longer true. This is in stark contrast to when the field was getting off the ground, for instance it wasn't uncommon for benefits like PTO to be tied to your degree level & not length of employment.