[xb]

I am in Seattle, which does not have the thriving biotech scene of the bay area or Boston, but thankfully the cost of living is significantly lower than either.

I had essentially zero chance of landing a biotech position, similarly because my niche was not in demand by any local company. Even the positions I did see were not very desirable and the competition from other PhDs and postdocs was fierce.

I was lucky to have some extra time toward the end of grad school to pick up some coding skills. The labor market for software developers is ridiculous in Seattle, and it took me under 2 weeks to find a full time position. I considered bootcamps also, but decided to give it a shot trying to get hired with just my existing experience. The though of starting a bootcamp where my 6 years of research experience was all for naught was pretty depressing, so I really feel for your sister. I have another PhD friend who is in the exact same boat.

My conclusion was to not fight the tide of the labor market. I think in the future biotech will be really profitable and there will be a lot more jobs, but right now all of the jobs are in software, at least around here.

[will_work4tears]

Also in the Seattle area (Tacoma, really). There does seem to be a lot of activity up north there, I get calls from recruiters all the time, but I just can't swing that commute at this time - or work all of the hours above 40 I'm assuming I'd have to work. It doesn't surprise me that the labor market is pretty ridiculous for developers though. It's pretty awesome that you picked up coding and got a job that fast, it's pretty good news for my sister if she decides to go that route.