How To Become An Information Scientist: What It Is and Career Path

What is an information scientist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Ronald Dorn

In an organization, the information scientist is the one who acquires, supplies, and distributes information. They also in charge of maintaining the knowledge database of the organization, ensuring that it is organized, secure, and available at all times.

On a typical day, an information scientist's job duties include archiving information, creating systems to simplify information storage, organizing data, updating information, ensuring compliance with data laws, and performing information audits. They may also be responsible for training and managing assistant staff as well as addressing concerns of other departments.

A degree in any major will do for the role of an information scientist. Still, employers may prefer candidates who studied information science, library studies, or a field related to their organization's industry. Apart from that, employers also look for candidates with strong skills in organization, communication, data management, and interpersonal relationships. Moreover, technical skills, computer skills, and proficiency with databases are essential.

Information scientists typically work in offices on a regular forty-hour-week schedule. On average, they earn $40.5 per hour or about $84,000 per year.

What general advice would you give to an information scientist?

Ronald Dorn

Associate Director, Arizona State University

You have a way of looking at the world that others only slightly understand. In other words, you think spatially-geographically. You think about cultural geography as more than just other people, but how people fit with their spaces. You think about how the physical geography processes interact with people in ways that others do not. So my general advice is to think broadly about what you are doing for the organization and how your unique perspective can benefit the people who you are working for and with. This means you will have to try to think like they do to explain how your views can benefit the overall mission of the organization.

ScoreInformation ScientistUS Average

Salary

7.2

Avg. Salary $92,789

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.2

Growth rate 16%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.60%

Asian 18.81%

Black or African American 4.18%

Hispanic or Latino 6.87%

Unknown 5.37%

White 64.18%

Gender

female 48.70%

male 51.30%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress level

6.2

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

10.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.6

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an information scientist

Explore information scientist education requirements

Most common information scientist degrees

Bachelor's

58.6 %

Doctorate

18.5 %

Master's

16.6 %

Start to develop specific information scientist skills

Skills	Percentages
Data Analysis	19.30%
Literature Searches	16.04%
R	9.37%
Clinical Data	7.90%
FDA	6.73%

Complete relevant information scientist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New information scientists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an information scientist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real information scientist resumes.

Research information scientist duties and responsibilities

Manage pediatric dose development project, technology transfer project and alternate API supplier qualification project on budget and on schedule
Improve copyright compliance process for regulatory submissions ahead of FDA eCTD requirement for electronic submissions.
Participate in FDA and in-house QA/QC audits.
Provide support relating to EDG metadata content and ingest, including maintenance and update of PERL ingest scripts.

Prepare your information scientist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your information scientist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an information scientist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable information scientist resume templates

Build a professional information scientist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your information scientist resume.