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

What is a business programmer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted expert

James Sellmann Ph.D.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a business programmer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $41.4 an hour? That's $86,116 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -7% and produce -17,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a business programmer?

James Sellmann Ph.D.

Dean, Professor of Philosophy and Micronesian Studies, University of Guam

General advice is to keep in mind that you must leverage your skills, especially your soft skills of being able to work with people, to communicate effectively and to be able to solve problems. Be real. Don't try to pretend to be someone else to impress others. Be your authentic self. And show up on time.

ScoreBusiness ProgrammerUS Average

Salary

6.7

Avg. Salary $86,116

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.1

Growth rate -7%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.18%

Asian 15.06%

Black or African American 4.94%

Hispanic or Latino 8.73%

Unknown 4.69%

White 66.40%

Gender

female 19.40%

male 80.60%

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 business programmer

Explore business programmer education requirements

Most common business programmer degrees

Bachelor's

67.2 %

Master's

14.8 %

Associate

13.1 %

Start to develop specific business programmer skills

Skills	Percentages
Java	18.49%
JavaScript	16.08%
PHP	14.15%
SAS	12.66%
PL/SQL	12.20%

Complete relevant business programmer training and internships

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

Research business programmer duties and responsibilities

Manage the JDBC connectivity, querying the database through JDBC calls.
Implement and automate existing manual process, to create CRF by creating new database objects in SQL and macro in excel.
Used advanced level of HTML5, JavaScript, CSS3 and pure CSS layouts (table less layout).
Work in all the modules of the application which involve front-end presentation logic develop using JavaScript, Jquery.

Apply for business programmer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a business programmer job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams