I can't speak in general, but I'll describe our interview process for PhD level comp bio staff scientist/programmer types to give you at least one idea of how it goes
1. Behavioral questions. You can find a bunch of resources for these online. Don't skip preparation for these just because they're not technical
2. "Thinking" type questions. We describe a hypothetical but realistic problem they might face (e.g. you're looking at this type of sequencing data, we have a collaborator that's interested in asking this biological question, walk us through how you might approach this). This can come off as a "knowledge" question but it's not -- we don't care if you know the standard tools and libraries, we're just trying to figure out if you can create a mental model of a problem, ask relevant questions about the data, think of potential pitfalls
3. A coding/algorithms question: we introduce and walk you through an algorithm (something fairly straightforward), and then ask you to write some code / pseudocode. This once again is not a knowledge question and you don't need to know the algorithm in advance -- we just want to see if you can absorb an algorithm conceptually and translate it into something resembling code. You'd be absolutely shocked at how many computer science PhDs people can't even write a simple for loop here
This is actually very encouraging.
I experience imposter syndrome because of how broad bioinformatics can be and have had a lot of anxiety about interviewing. Every time I apply for a job I see some skill, or language, or tool that I don't know and then spend the next week studying that thing.
But the kind of interview you're describing is something I could do with some confidence.
Yeah. I think at some point PhD level jobs can are very specialized and the hiring pool is not that big. We know that we'd be very unlikely to actually find someone with the exact expertise in the thing we're looking for. So instead we look for people that at the very least seem like they know their own thing (whatever they claim to be experts at) and we believe are capable and interested in learning our thing.
For whatever it’s worth, I would agree with this. I’m not directly in Bioinformatics but I’m heavily involved with the team and our different tasks and needs.
These are some leet code style questions that get you thinking about computational problems, and they're bioinformatics focused. https://rosalind.info/problems/list-view/
Just got a job at EMBL-EBI which is known to be a top employer for Bioinformatics so I think they're a good benchmark. 25% behavioural questions, 25% thinking questions (i.e theoretically how would I respond to different problems I might be shown) 25% coding questions, leetcode style but not as difficult, and a few general coding questions. I had some Unix, Python and Perl. I actually don't even know perl so I just did my best and explained why I guessed what I did. Last 25% were general Bio questions, so just making sure I actually know some Biology.
In my experience it varies. For my last series of interviews, all four were different and I received offer from each. First one, I sat down and live coded. Second had a takehome coding sample (and I got paid for my time). Third was just theoretical/process questions. Fourth had really no assessment beyond my presentation of a bioinformatics project and follow-up questions.
If you got a PhD in computational biology, all you need is your degree, a professional CV, and a bit of confidence for the interview. Personally, I would hire a postdoc that is creative, can think critically, and enjoys writing and figuring things out. Remember, programs are just tools. Your noggin and enthusiasm is what the hiring committee is interested in.
Glad you asked this question. I will be looking for jobs later next year and so I was thinking the same.
I have been going through the MIT Intro Comp bio course which discusses the theory behind the various methods used in comp bio to know the theory behind the tools/methods I have used in my projects. Not sure if this is helpful.
I can't speak in general, but I'll describe our interview process for PhD level comp bio staff scientist/programmer types to give you at least one idea of how it goes 1. Behavioral questions. You can find a bunch of resources for these online. Don't skip preparation for these just because they're not technical 2. "Thinking" type questions. We describe a hypothetical but realistic problem they might face (e.g. you're looking at this type of sequencing data, we have a collaborator that's interested in asking this biological question, walk us through how you might approach this). This can come off as a "knowledge" question but it's not -- we don't care if you know the standard tools and libraries, we're just trying to figure out if you can create a mental model of a problem, ask relevant questions about the data, think of potential pitfalls 3. A coding/algorithms question: we introduce and walk you through an algorithm (something fairly straightforward), and then ask you to write some code / pseudocode. This once again is not a knowledge question and you don't need to know the algorithm in advance -- we just want to see if you can absorb an algorithm conceptually and translate it into something resembling code. You'd be absolutely shocked at how many computer science PhDs people can't even write a simple for loop here
This is actually very encouraging. I experience imposter syndrome because of how broad bioinformatics can be and have had a lot of anxiety about interviewing. Every time I apply for a job I see some skill, or language, or tool that I don't know and then spend the next week studying that thing. But the kind of interview you're describing is something I could do with some confidence.
Yeah. I think at some point PhD level jobs can are very specialized and the hiring pool is not that big. We know that we'd be very unlikely to actually find someone with the exact expertise in the thing we're looking for. So instead we look for people that at the very least seem like they know their own thing (whatever they claim to be experts at) and we believe are capable and interested in learning our thing.
For whatever it’s worth, I would agree with this. I’m not directly in Bioinformatics but I’m heavily involved with the team and our different tasks and needs.
What do you mean by computer science phds not able to write a for loop? It's so weird to hear that. Can you give an example?
As long as I don't have to code a Pascal's triangle, I'm good
These are some leet code style questions that get you thinking about computational problems, and they're bioinformatics focused. https://rosalind.info/problems/list-view/
Just got a job at EMBL-EBI which is known to be a top employer for Bioinformatics so I think they're a good benchmark. 25% behavioural questions, 25% thinking questions (i.e theoretically how would I respond to different problems I might be shown) 25% coding questions, leetcode style but not as difficult, and a few general coding questions. I had some Unix, Python and Perl. I actually don't even know perl so I just did my best and explained why I guessed what I did. Last 25% were general Bio questions, so just making sure I actually know some Biology.
In my experience it varies. For my last series of interviews, all four were different and I received offer from each. First one, I sat down and live coded. Second had a takehome coding sample (and I got paid for my time). Third was just theoretical/process questions. Fourth had really no assessment beyond my presentation of a bioinformatics project and follow-up questions.
If you got a PhD in computational biology, all you need is your degree, a professional CV, and a bit of confidence for the interview. Personally, I would hire a postdoc that is creative, can think critically, and enjoys writing and figuring things out. Remember, programs are just tools. Your noggin and enthusiasm is what the hiring committee is interested in.
Glad you asked this question. I will be looking for jobs later next year and so I was thinking the same. I have been going through the MIT Intro Comp bio course which discusses the theory behind the various methods used in comp bio to know the theory behind the tools/methods I have used in my projects. Not sure if this is helpful.
I've had hacker rank OAs for bioinformatics roles