FlightWay / Careers / Molecular and Cellular Biologists
Engineering & Science
Molecular and Cellular Biologists
Research and study cellular molecules and organelles to understand cell function and organization.
- Sector: Engineering & Science
- Preparation: Zone 5 — extensive preparation needed
- O*NET code: 19-1029.02
What you'll actually do
The activities O*NET rates highest for this occupation, most important first. Numbers are out of 100.
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Analyzing Data or Information
central to the job — rated 88/100 for importance.
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Getting Information
central to the job — rated 88/100 for importance.
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Documenting/Recording Information
central to the job — rated 88/100 for importance.
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Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge
central to the job — rated 85/100 for importance.
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Processing Information
a major part of the work — rated 85/100 for importance.
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Working with Computers
a major part of the work — rated 84/100 for importance.
Research and study cellular molecules and organelles to understand cell function and organization.
What it takes
Two numbers per line: the level the work expects, and how important it is to doing the job well. Both are O*NET ratings, already on a 0–100 scale.
Skills
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Science
Needed at a high level (71/100), and rated 94/100 for importance.
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Reading Comprehension
Needed at expert level (80/100), and rated 85/100 for importance.
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Writing
Needed at a high level (71/100), and rated 81/100 for importance.
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Critical Thinking
Needed at a high level (70/100), and rated 78/100 for importance.
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Speaking
Needed at a high level (68/100), and rated 75/100 for importance.
Knowledge
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Biology
Needed at expert level (96/100), and rated 95/100 for importance.
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English Language
Needed at a high level (75/100), and rated 86/100 for importance.
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Chemistry
Needed at a high level (74/100), and rated 78/100 for importance.
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Mathematics
Needed at a high level (71/100), and rated 70/100 for importance.
Abilities
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Written Comprehension
Needed at expert level (79/100), and rated 91/100 for importance.
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Oral Comprehension
Needed at expert level (82/100), and rated 81/100 for importance.
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Oral Expression
Needed at expert level (80/100), and rated 78/100 for importance.
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Inductive Reasoning
Needed at expert level (77/100), and rated 78/100 for importance.
How people get in
O*NET places this occupation in Zone 5 — extensive preparation needed. That is a statement about what employers typically require, not a rule about you.
Education
Graduate school — a master's, a PhD, an MD or a JD, depending on the field.
Experience
More than five years of related experience is common before the title is yours.
Training
This is a long runway. Start the prerequisites early or the timeline slips a year at a time.
What it pays
These are typical science compensation bands by employer tier — sector-level figures, not a measured salary for Molecular and Cellular Biologists specifically. Treat them as the shape of the market, then check a real posting for the number.
Pfizer · Nat"l Labs · MIT
$110k – $200k
Biotech & Pharma Mid
$90k – $160k
Startups & Academia
$65k – $110k
How the work tends to run
Each line below is read off a single O*NET activity rating for this occupation — named, so you can disagree with it.
- Most of the day happens at a screen.From “Working with Computers”
- Part of the job is other people’s output, not only your own.From “Coordinating the Work and Activities of Others”
- You own decisions rather than execute someone else’s.From “Making Decisions and Solving Problems”
- There is real room to invent — the answer is not in a manual.From “Thinking Creatively”
How FlightWay scores your fit against this
No black box. Here is the whole method, factor by factor.
- 1. You answer a short quiz
- Your answers build a profile across the same 161 O*NET dimensions this page is describing — skills, knowledge, abilities and work activities. Same axes, so the comparison is like-for-like.
- 2. We correlate the two profiles
- Fit is a mean-centered cosine — a correlation between the SHAPE of your profile and the shape of Molecular and Cellular Biologists. Centering matters: raw similarity between any two occupations sits at 0.70–0.85 because all work shares a common profile, so without it every career would look like a match.
- 3. The number you see is personality fit only
- "Would I want this work" and "am I ready for this work" are different questions, and averaging them answers neither. So readiness — what your résumé, coursework and projects prove — is scored separately and shown next to fit, never blended into it.
- 4. Every factor is visible
- You can open any match and see which dimensions pushed it up and which pulled it down. If you disagree with the number, you can see exactly where it came from.
More in Engineering & Science
See your fit for Molecular and Cellular Biologists
Ten questions, about 90 seconds. You get your match against Molecular and Cellular Biologists and 782+ other real careers — with the reasoning shown.
Take the quiz Open in FlightWayOccupational data on this page comes from the O*NET 30.3 Database, published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). O*NET is a registered trademark of USDOL/ETA. FlightWay is not endorsed by, and USDOL/ETA is not responsible for, anything built on that data — see our terms. What is ours is the comparison, the score and the plan.