[Baypiggies] Bioinformatics Python Programmer

[Aahz]

On Thu, Oct 08, 2009, wesley chun wrote:
>
> in 2001 during the dot bomb fallout, i joined a medical imaging
> company in San Francisco. after spending my entire career in a C,
> Unix, Python, and networking environment, going to a company that did
> software for doctors in a clinical trials setting was just a
> whacked-out idea.
> 
> i asked the VP of Engineering whether i would still be a good fit
> because not only did i not have any medical background but didn't even
> take chemistry or biology in college! here was his response: "it's
> easier to find a Python programmer and train them medically on-the-job
> than it is to find a person with a medical background and teach them
> how to code in Python."

That's fine, but when a job ad specifically says that bio background is
required *and* includes a mini-quiz designed to verify a *minimal*
knowledge, I think it is rude to apply when you can't answer the quiz
questions.  Similarly, when a company includes a programming quiz that I
can't easily handle, I assume that's a minimum requirement for the job
and skip applying.

As someone who has been on the hiring side, I know that these quizzes 
are the direct result of people applying who can't meet even minimal
qualifications. 
-- 
Aahz (aahz at pythoncraft.com)           <*>         http://www.pythoncraft.com/

"To me vi is Zen.  To use vi is to practice zen.  Every command is a
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