I'm currently a professional software developer. Have years of software as a service, database and line of business application development experience. I'm investigating a switch to a career in computational biology. In order to make that switch, I've accepted that going back to school for a Masters in some form of bio-informatics is a bit of a requirement:
Two Question(s):
Impact of the Recession - How stable have careers in computational biology been since 2008?
Assuming it's better than being better than a real estate agent:)
General Team Composition - If you were building a large team that needed computational biologists, how many people would be focused on creating software?
I think you are better of focusing on whether or not you will enjoy bioinformatics as a career path. A lot of labs will require a reasonable understanding of biology that may take more than a masters to develop.
I don't think computational biology career is a good choice because it uses a lot of linux perl stuff. However the hot areas on the job market are microsoft .net and sql server etc..
Yeah, I've got plenty of Microsoft .NET and SQL experience. It's a little troubling how computational biology doesn't take advantage of some of the advances modern software development has to offer. Thinking of the IDE for Perl for example.
Yes, better prospects than real estate agents. They probably track with the pharmaceutical industry as a whole. There have been cutbacks and layoffs, but there are still jobs for hire too.
The percentage of software types on a team will vary widely depending on the goals of that team. Some projects have software as the ultimate product (e.g., UCSC genome browser, cytoscape, etc.) and therefore will need mostly software engineers. For other projects, code just needs to work once and will never be reused. The majority of labs are somewhere in between, of course.
Two additional notes. First, assuming you're a good software engineer, you should realize that bioinformatics salaries are probably lower even with a master's, at least to start. Second, you could consider getting a job as a bioinformatics programmer before your master's, just to be sure you like the field before jumping in. Like this posting, for example... </selfish_plug>
Basically, this boils down to a data deluge - management and interpretation. Sequencing a human genome is rapidly becoming trivial. There are stories more and more often from the medical front that the tumor and normal genomes of a patient were sequenced in order to establish a treatment regimen, or a rare disorder's source was found from genome sequencing. Costs for this are plummeting. This will lead to a lot, and a lot and a lot of data that needs to be interpreted - rapidly and accurately - and done so in a way that medical professionals (physician, clinician, genetic counselor, nutritionist, dentist, etc) and patients can understand.
Furthermore, pharmaceutical companies will increasingly look to genome sequencing as a way to segment subjects who undergo or partake in drug trials. If a certain genetically defined sub-population can show efficacy and zero toxicity/adverse effects, then the drug faces a less steep climb to approval. Then, the companies can expand from this "restricted" sub-group to others. Lots to do here as well for the computer folks.
I see good opportunities for those in the bioinformatics and computational biology disciplines.
I was in your position a few years back--straight CS background and 5+ years of software development experience. Before applying to bioinformatics Master's programs, I took night classes in biology (molecular & cellular, organismic & evolutionary). This was incredibly useful in both confirming my interest in the subject matter and preparing me for the intensely difficult task of talking biology with biologists. Had I not taken those classes, I would have gotten far less out of my program. Maybe you have more biology background than me, but if not I would highly suggest taking at least molecular and cellular biology while you wait through the application process.
Jobs are out there, but a lot of the true bioinformatics work is in academic labs. I would recommend getting into a research lab as soon as possible when you start your program. It's very different than a corporate setting, and you will know pretty quickly whether you can see yourself there long term. Personally, I was able to secure a summer internship at a bioinformatics company after the first year of my program and will be starting full time work there when I finish the program next month.
All this being said, at the heart of the matter is whether you are someone who enjoys learning cool things for the sake of learning them. That is my mindset, and consequently I have no regrets about my career change. The world of biology is endlessly fascinating and largely unexplored. Pursuing an M.S. in bioinformatics will give you the opportunity to discover it. If this excites you, go for it.
I think it all depends on where you start. I would suggest to start with a research lab, learn biology and apply you software engineering knowledge. I personally feel that the job market is good. If you get couple of good publications, it will be very beneficial for you.
If you get a job in bioinformatics even with a graduate degree you will make less money than you would writing line-of-business code. However, many of the things you'd learn in a masters program in bioinformatics would be directly applicable to your current career, especially machine learning, statistics and handling big data. If you enjoy the subject, get the degree. You'll be pleasantly surprised how much of it you can use, even if you never work directly in the field.
I think you are better of focusing on whether or not you will enjoy bioinformatics as a career path. A lot of labs will require a reasonable understanding of biology that may take more than a masters to develop.
I don't think computational biology career is a good choice because it uses a lot of linux perl stuff. However the hot areas on the job market are microsoft .net and sql server etc..
Yeah, I've got plenty of Microsoft .NET and SQL experience. It's a little troubling how computational biology doesn't take advantage of some of the advances modern software development has to offer. Thinking of the IDE for Perl for example.