12 October 2016
An app a day creates jobs that pay: Software developers
In a world where it appears that there is, in fact, an app for that and everything in between, it should be no surprise that the people who can create those applications are in strong demand.
This well-placed hunch was confirmed by UC San Diego Extension’s recent “Emerging Careers for 2016” report, which detailed the hottest jobs with the highest growth potential for recent college grads. In the report, application software developer was the sixth most in-demand job in San Diego and was the No. 1 job nationally.
While successful software developers are often thought of as loner techie types, it is a career that requires a combination of equal parts computer savvy and creative talent as well as the ability to thrive in a team setting. That’s because it is an entire team that is usually in charge of creating an app, shepherding it from the concept stage to a functioning, glitch-free application.
It’s also a job that requires complex problem solving as well as strong judgment and decision making skills, said Robert Campbell, lead software engineer at National Credit Center.
“It’s not just programming; it’s about having the analytical skills to recognize what’s actually happening and then coming up with new ways to address those issues,” he said.
The demand for software developers in the applications space is strong with an expected national growth rate of almost 19 percent between 2014 and 2024, which is far higher than most other careers. It is also a male-dominated field with only about 18 percent of all software developers being women. In addition, software developers tend to be younger with around 64 percent under the age of 44. Those numbers should be no surprise because while women receive 57 percent of all bachelor’s of science degrees, they represent only 18 percent of the computer science degrees awarded.
Still, the compensation for these software developer jobs should be enticing to anyone as the median annual salary on a national level is $90,060 and the top 10 percent of software developers make $138,880 a year.
While the money might be good, Campbell said it is imperative to truly love work, which is both detail-oriented and time-consuming.
“If you get into this field, you really need to make sure that you like software development,” he said. “I see those who are in it for a paycheck, and they don’t last long.”
View the full Emerging Careers report.