Scientific Programming
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Anybody care to share their insight on the job market for scientific programming. I'm a computational chemist.
I am a scientific programmer who runs his own company. Here is my insight into my experience. Scientific programming can be a nice place to be, if you can find the right niche market. I market a software package to the disk drive industry. There are not a lot of potential users, the hours are long, and you must be a jack of all trades (to put together marketing pamphlets, a user manual, a freindly GUI, all this in addition to the scientific skills you bring to the table). In order to make ends meet I have to sell my product at a high price which scares a lot of potential users. If you have not already done so, you will spend a lot of time developing the product (without pay) so that it is marketable. Once you put your product on the market it will take an additional 3-6 months before people begin to purchase it. Therefore, you will need some money in the bank to get you through the development phase and initial introduction phase. Money does not come in in a predictable way, so there will be times when you just scrape by and others when you have a lot of money in the bank. You will be caught in a cycle of never-ending updates. I charge a yearly license for my software which does give some predictability to my finances. You will have to handle all your tax issues (including self employment tax). If you can afford it, find an office outside the home. You will have to be extremely self-driven and work to find a balance between home life and work life. The life style can be nice. The hours are long (already mentioned that), but the freedom is wonderful. You can take vacations when you want to. If you have children, you can go and see them at school plays and the like without feeling guilty. There is no boss, so you can work when you want and develop the program in whatever direction you want to which is very, very nice. Before owning my own business I worked for a small 5 man company that did scientific computing. Working for yourself is much better. If you can find a company that is hiring someone with your background, however, then it can be a rewarding experience. It is a lot of fun to work with others who are doing the same as you and to be able to bounce ideas around with them. Small companies, though, can be very hard to work for. Unless you have the best idea since sliced bread, money will always be tight and when you work for yourself or for a small operation, you will always be sorely aware of just how close you are to being out on the street. I hope this helps
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I am a scientific programmer who runs his own company. Here is my insight into my experience. Scientific programming can be a nice place to be, if you can find the right niche market. I market a software package to the disk drive industry. There are not a lot of potential users, the hours are long, and you must be a jack of all trades (to put together marketing pamphlets, a user manual, a freindly GUI, all this in addition to the scientific skills you bring to the table). In order to make ends meet I have to sell my product at a high price which scares a lot of potential users. If you have not already done so, you will spend a lot of time developing the product (without pay) so that it is marketable. Once you put your product on the market it will take an additional 3-6 months before people begin to purchase it. Therefore, you will need some money in the bank to get you through the development phase and initial introduction phase. Money does not come in in a predictable way, so there will be times when you just scrape by and others when you have a lot of money in the bank. You will be caught in a cycle of never-ending updates. I charge a yearly license for my software which does give some predictability to my finances. You will have to handle all your tax issues (including self employment tax). If you can afford it, find an office outside the home. You will have to be extremely self-driven and work to find a balance between home life and work life. The life style can be nice. The hours are long (already mentioned that), but the freedom is wonderful. You can take vacations when you want to. If you have children, you can go and see them at school plays and the like without feeling guilty. There is no boss, so you can work when you want and develop the program in whatever direction you want to which is very, very nice. Before owning my own business I worked for a small 5 man company that did scientific computing. Working for yourself is much better. If you can find a company that is hiring someone with your background, however, then it can be a rewarding experience. It is a lot of fun to work with others who are doing the same as you and to be able to bounce ideas around with them. Small companies, though, can be very hard to work for. Unless you have the best idea since sliced bread, money will always be tight and when you work for yourself or for a small operation, you will always be sorely aware of just how close you are to being out on the street. I hope this helps