How To Become A Junior Programmer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a junior programmer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted experts

Brian Glas,

Kevin Treu Ph.D.

A junior programmer is an individual who programs computers and develops computer software programs for customers, clients, or internal clients. These professionals develop, implement and maintain software programs that perform a variety of functions, from financial computing to telecommunications management to database and computer networking. A junior programmer works under the direction of a senior programmer and works with a team of IT developers to understand client requirements, develop specifications, and test and write software applications.

Junior programmers typically work in an office environment during a normal work week but may work evenings or weekends if required. They are knowledgeable of different programming languages such as Java, C++, XML, SQL, and Python and are familiar with how networks and databases interface. These IT professionals develop, write, test, and fix code, and with other team members, ensure that software programs follow client guidelines and functionality. Junior programmers should possess excellent communication, analytical and problem-solving skills and should be comfortable collaborating with other team members.

Most junior programmers have an associate's or a bachelor's in computer science, IT, web programming, or a similar field; however, an advanced degree may not be required if the individual has comparable skills. Junior programmers can make up to $61,000 a year in the US, but job growth is expected to decline 7% by 2028.

What general advice would you give to a Junior Programmer?

Brian Glas

Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Union University

Build relationships: Different technologies will interest and challenge you, but throughout your career, you'll find that it's the relationships that are the most important. This is harder to grasp earlier in your career, but much easier to understand after 15-20 years.
Gain different perspectives: Spend time with people in other roles that your job interacts with, and gain a solid understanding of how they view things; this is most valuable for career progression and understanding of how your work fits into the big picture.

ScoreJunior ProgrammerUS Average

Salary

4.8

Avg. Salary $61,448

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.1

Growth rate -7%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.18%

Asian 17.61%

Black or African American 4.94%

Hispanic or Latino 8.72%

Unknown 4.68%

White 63.87%

Gender

female 28.42%

male 71.58%

Age - 48

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 - 48

Stress level

5.1

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.7

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a junior programmer

Explore junior programmer education requirements

Most common junior programmer degrees

Bachelor's

67.8 %

Associate

15.0 %

Master's

10.1 %

Start to develop specific junior programmer skills

Skills	Percentages
C++	11.62%
JavaScript	7.46%
Web Application	5.87%
Java	5.76%
HTML	5.61%

Complete relevant junior programmer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New junior programmers 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 a junior programmer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real junior programmer resumes.

Research junior programmer duties and responsibilities

Lead solutions engineering that involve process automation, macro conversion and functionality enhancement.
Boost user interface performance through front end navigation menus in HTML and CSS.
Support development of a user interface for new web- base delivery platform including utilization of JavaScript and implementation of CSS.
Update many deprecate technologies such as old jQuery, ereg to preg, and PHP version support.

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