“This small experiment and its outcomes help you to find a job in genetic engineering using a targeted search query.”
Genetic engineering is a fascinating field, allowing DNA manipulation and creating something novel that never existed in nature. It includes wet and dry lab work and state-of-the-art instrumental and laboratory equipment setup.
It also needs specialized skills and extensive experience in the field of gene editing to perform DNA manipulation. This fascinating field has diverse career options and job opportunities.
To guide learners and students, I conducted a small experiment to discover career options and job opportunities in the field of genetic engineering.
I asked students in our community and also searched for two main keywords, ‘career in genetic engineering’ and ‘genetic engineering job’ and the results I found are shocking. If you are planning to pursue your career in genetic engineering, here is what you need to search for.
Key Topics:
Our experiment:
So we invite students from our community to search for the keyword “jobs in genetic engineering.” Krusha Patel from Sankalchand Patel University, Arpita from CVM University, Christophert Vet, and Nassirou Seyni replied with their answers.
They told us that no results show a job opening for genetic engineering; instead, it showed results for research scientists, forensic analysis, institutes and where they will potentially get the job.
I conducted the same experiment and the results are exactly similar. So they asked the community, No such jobs exist for genetic engineering?
I will answer this question later.
How to find a job in genetic engineering and pursue a career?
You won’t find a job in “genetic engineering!” This statement might sound controversial. But I will prove it. Wait for that. Genetic engineering is a broad term used for a collection of techniques.
It includes gene manipulation, gene cloning, gene therapy, gene editing and a lot more. The steps it includes are selection of target, vector design, vector insertion, recombinant construct, recombinant validation and expression.
If you search ‘geneticist’ or ‘clinical geneticist’, you will certainly find a lot of job opportunities, but when you search ‘genetic engineering,’ you probably find nothing related!
By the way, if you want to become a successful geneticist, you should have to read this article.
We searched this term on the very popular job portal LinkedIn and here are the results that we found.
I barely find anything that is related to genetic engineering. You can follow the arrows; all the results are related to something else.
I repeated the experiment with naukri.com. Yet again, I found nothing relevant!
In conclusion, the job title, genetic engineering, rarely exists, but the field is very real. Unlike a civil engineer or mechanical engineer, genetic engineering isn’t a designation; it is a skillset or we can say specialization.
More specifically, it is an umbrella term!
Don’t demotivate, if you are still fascinated by gene manipulation and recombinant DNA technology, you can still translate your career in this field. Here is what you have to do and what you need to search for.
What you have to look for and search:
If you have done any courses in genetic engineering, you are actually a geneticist or biotechnologist. Now, what you have to do is, you have to look for
- Molecular Biologist
- Biotech Research Associate
- CRISPR Scientist
- Gene Therapy Scientist
- Biomedical Scientist
- Lab Technologist in Genomics
- Synthetic Biology Researcher
- Genetic Consultant (in clinical settings)
The list of search queries you can use to find a job in genetic engineering is listed here.
- “Molecular biology jobs”
- “Biotech jobs”
- “CRISPR research jobs”
- “Genomics research assistant”
- “Gene editing scientist”
- “Synthetic biology roles or jobs”
By doing so, you can find meaningful job opportunities for your interests or degree in genetic engineering.
Where are these jobs found?
Now, lastly, if you want to pursue your career in genetic engineering, or want to choose it as your course, here are quick suggestions on where you will find jobs.
Agriculture biotechnology:
Genetic engineering’s real and extensive applications are in the field of agricultural biotechnology. Scientists prepare various genetically modified organisms, using gene manipulation tools for economic benefits.
For instance, Flavr Savr tomato, GMO plants and BT cotton. Thousands of GMO plant and crop species are developed using genetic engineering techniques. Use these 5 teams to search for relevant jobs if you are interested in this field.
- “Agriculture biotechnologist jobs”
- “Plant biotechnology specialist”
- “Agribiotech job vacancies”
- “Gene editing jobs in agriculture”
Gene therapy companies:
Gene therapy includes manipulating an organism’s DNA to repair a faulty gene or replace it.
Gene therapy companies are real! They conduct real research to develop novel approaches to treat genetic diseases and cancer. So many gene therapy-based medications are approved by the FDA and available on the market.
Now! If you are trained in genetic engineering with some hands-on work experience in gene therapy, there is a high chance that you can get a prestigious and high-paying gene therapy job.
Here is the list of common queries that you can search to get the job.
- “Gene therapy jobs”
- “Scientist jobs for gene therapy”
- “Gene therapy research scientist”
- “Gene therapy clinical trial jobs”
- “Jobs in cell and gene therapy”
Pharma companies:
Giant pharma companies also offer gene therapy facilities to develop novel drugs and therapies against various diseases. You can apply there as well. It’s Pharma, but your roles and responsibilities will remain the same as in other fields.
Search for the same terms that are listed in the “gene therapy companies” to get a job.
In addition to companies, research labs and universities also have vacancies for genetic engineering specialists. Their extensive project needs different experts or interns who work on different objectives.
For some projects, an experienced molecular biologist (with a thorough knowledge of genetic engineering) is required. You can apply for those positions as well. Search these terms to find job information.
- “Research jobs in gene therapy”
- “Research scientists in molecular biology”
- “Gene editing jobs”
A quick roadmap:
- Choose your subject of interest (for example: Agriculture biotechnology).
- Choose a search query — Agriculture biotechnologist jobs.
- Go to Google or a Job portal and search for the query.
- Select filters: choose your location, salary, date posted, etc and search for the job.
Wrapping up:
That’s it for this article. What I want to show is that if you are really looking for a job in genetic engineering, you have to specifically select a search query to find a relevant job.
In the next article, I will show you the complete tutorial on how you can find and select a job in the field of genetics. I also planned another article on how you can prepare for a career in genetics.
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