Today, bioinformatics is a rapidly growing field and is expected to grow at an even faster rate in the coming years.
A report by Allied Market Research found that the Bioinformatics market is expected to grow from $8.6 billion in 2019 to $24.7 billion in 2027, growing at a CAGR of 13.4%.
It is a given then that there are many different bioinformatics positions in the market, with the most popular ones being bioinformatics scientists, research scientists, microbiologists, and biostatisticians.
The infographic below summarizes growth prospects for the most popular bioinformatics services from 2020 to 2027.
Despite a regular supply of bioinformatics professionals, companies find attracting and retaining the best talent challenging. The most experienced hiring managers often struggle to recruit the best bioinformatics candidates due to a multitude of reasons and look for ways to streamline the entire process.
Here’s a comprehensive guide for hiring managers and employers who want to attract and recruit the best Bioinformatics candidates.
How to Attract Top Bioinformatics Talent?
Bioinformatics is a constantly evolving domain with innovations happening every day. Industry experts believe it will grow exponentially in the coming years and reform the business models of numerous organizations. Moreover, bioinformatics applications are changing as companies want more innovation and creativity from their employees.
Wim Van Criekinge, a bioinformatics professor at Ghent University in Belgium and CSO at MDxHealth, a company developing epigenetics-based cancer diagnostics, has this to say about the growing field of bioinformatics.
“Scientists and companies used to look at bioinformatics as a tool. But the subject has evolved from a service, like histology, to its own research arena… Bioinformaticists are now the motor of the innovation”
Naturally, corporations must keep up with the changing environment and reform their recruitment practices to attract top talent.
1. Be Innovative and Invest In Research & Development
Bioinformatics is a highly technical field, and companies that want to succeed must be innovative to keep up with the competition. While working as a bioinformatics professional, individuals strive for excellence and a competitive work environment that focuses on creativity and innovation.
Companies that spend excessively on research and development are more likely to attract the best bioinformatics talent globally. Bioinformatics professionals want to work in a company that has made a name for itself for being a pioneer in research and scientific advancement.
At the same time, corporations, where the spending on research and development is limited, will find it hard to attract the most talented bioinformaticians. Naturally, companies must rebrand themselves as innovators striving for the highest scientific innovation and advancement. Such enterprises will have an easier time when it comes to attracting and recruiting the best bioinformatics talent around the globe.
Moreover, the most attractive companies for bioinformatics stay up to date with the latest trends in the field and offer their employees a chance to be a part of the technological revolution. Hiring managers should work with the marketing department to ensure their organization appears the most lucrative.
2. Revamp Your Recruitment Strategy
In many organizations, the hiring procedure for bioinformatics specialists is antiquated. Because bioinformatics is a technical area, it needs a robust hiring procedure that concentrates on candidates’ skill sets. When employing bioinformaticians, many companies still take a generalist approach, which frequently backfires and drives candidates to explore better opportunities.
Moreover, the field of bioinformatics is technically advanced, and applicants must have the necessary skills to have a successful career in bioinformatics. Most of the time, the candidates are well-versed and have an exhaustive skillset, but the same cannot be said about hiring managers. Many organizations employ hiring managers who are unaware of the latest developments in the field of bioinformatics and are ill-equipped to recruit the appropriate candidates.
Businesses wishing to hire competent bioinformatics specialists should redesign their hiring procedures to meet prospective employees’ demands better. They ought to choose hiring supervisors who can interact with candidates successfully and have a fundamental knowledge of technical ideas.
Additionally, recruiting managers are frequently chosen by businesses that are not knowledgeable about the principles of bioinformatics and related subjects. Because of their lack of topic expertise, these recruiters often pass up brilliant bioinformatics candidates.
3. Use Structured Interviews
The interview stage is when most bioinformatics candidates choose to leave a potential workplace. Companies must undoubtedly revamp their interviewing procedures and employ structured interviews whenever possible.
A study by Wired revealed that unstructured interviews only predict roughly 14% of a candidate’s actual on-the-job performance, slightly ahead of background checks at 7%.
A crucial element of structured interviews is the use of a set of standard questions. These questions are often composed before the interview begins, in contrast to unstructured interviews, where the interviewer does not make a list of pre-planned questions.
A survey by Career Builder found that organizations lose an average of $14,900 on each bad hire, and more than 74% of hiring managers have recruited the wrong person for a given position. When the stakes are this high, a bad hire in the highly technical field of bioinformatics can cost a company dearly. That is why hiring managers should conduct structured interviews to attract the best bioinformatics talent.
A systematic interviewing procedure can help you remain impartial, employ a legally defendable hiring strategy, and enhance the candidate experience. You can conduct a structured interview using closed-ended questions, which can let you compare and analyze candidates for bioinformatics responses.
4. Recognize and Reward Talent
Recognizing and praising hard work will make your employees feel valued, which is essential if you want to retain the best bioinformatics talent. It is crucial to take advantage of the fact that one of the main factors keeping employees at their current jobs is a sense of value, recognition, and respect.
Promoting professional growth, learning, and development within a career is useful since talented bioinformatics professionals enjoy it and feel appreciated and recognized.
Bioinformaticians can learn on their own and recognize areas for growth and improvement if the correct tools are available. Setting goals and utilizing technology that provides real-time feedback on employee performance will assist increase workplace satisfaction and well-being.
5. Offer Better Benefits and Compensation
Bioinformatics professionals are among the highest-paid technical employees in the current scenario. Still, there is a wide disparity between the wage earned by professionals based on geographic location. According to Payscale, the median salary of a bioinformatics scientist is around $98,110 per annum. The diagram below shows the regions in the US where bioinformatics professionals, like scientists, earn the highest salaries.
Source: Zippia
Along with the base income, most employers also offer standard extra benefits like health insurance, bonuses, and others. According to the aforementioned figures, businesses are willing to pay top dollar for the best bioinformatics candidates. Organizations must offer something exceptional to draw the top bioinformatics applicants to their firm.
Businesses that prioritize their employees’ mental and emotional well-being are at a competitive advantage. Burnout is becoming a pervasive issue across industries; therefore, companies should consider allocating days off for everyone to relax and recover, for example.
Closing Words
Attracting and retaining bioinformatics applicants is not as troublesome when employers know what candidates are looking for. By using the tactics mentioned above, firms may attract and retain the best bioinformatics specialists worldwide.
In addition to enticing and hiring people, don’t forget that hiring requires commitment. Contact BenchPoint, a healthtech recruitment agency, to discover more about how you swiftly find the best bioinformatics talent.