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Skills that raise your pay

• Molecular techniques

  Gene sequencing and PCR (polymerase chain reaction, the method for copying DNA) are the bread and butter of biotech hiring.

• Cell culture

  Keeping living cells alive and uncontaminated is a real skill and labs pay for people who are reliably good at it.

• Instrument ownership

  Become the person who runs and fixes the mass spectrometer or the flow cytometer. Those people do not get laid off.

• Quality systems

  Regulated labs need people who understand documentation and audits. It is boring and it pays.

• Coding for data

  Basic Python or R turns a technician into someone who can also analyze the results.