Relevance for publications in a bioinformatics/computational biology job

Question

[vitor]

Hi everyone,

I'm wondering what is the relevance of high impact publications during a masters/PhD to get a job in bioinfo/comp biology. Is that as important as showing a good skill in programming, having previous working experience, etc? Do companies value publications as well as academia?

At least for getting a good PhD grant where I study, a good publication will help a LOT (almost mandatory coming from a masters), I would like to know if this is also the case for job in companies.

Answer 1

[Mensur Dlakic]

Everyone looks for a record of accomplishment. For better or worse, high-profile publications are one of the easiest way to show a record of accomplishment, but it is not the only way. Strong letters of recommendation will carry lots of weight. So will a good interview (assuming one gets there), or code samples on GitHub. Some companies (and possibly labs) will value where the applicants obtained their degrees, assuming they had positive experiences with certain degree-granting programs. It is never just one thing that decides whether one gets a job.

[vitor]

Thank you for the response! So they are still very important, but not at the same weight as in the academia. Right?

[Mensur Dlakic]

I don't work for a company, and have no first-hand knowledge of how much exactly they weigh publications compared to academia. My point was that there are many ways of convincing someone to offer a job. If a candidate is short in one department, they better be very strong in others. It is impossible that all companies (or all academic labs) hire only candidates with high-profile publications, because there are too many jobs and not as many candidates with high-profile publications.

Look through jobs posted on this site, and you will see that not a single one of them lists high-profile publications as a requirement. But there are many other requirements that you can think about and find a best way to present yourself in the best possible light.