How To Become An Internet Application Developer: What It Is and Career Path

What is an internet application developer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Brian Law

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an internet application developer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $42.82 an hour? That's $89,072 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 13% and produce 20,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to an internet application developer?

Brian Law

Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Illinois Wesleyan University

i) Explore your options thoroughly. Too many students get bewitched by Big Tech companies, with their bold promises, their fancy campuses, their big recruitment events, and their nice swag. Nowadays, this also happens to students with start-ups. But those jobs are not only highly competitive, but they also have very similarly exacting work cultures and very little work-life balance. These are cutthroat environments that are, frankly, not suited for everyone. Instead, many graduates would probably be happier working at, say, medium or small-size companies where they can find a workplace culture that fits them rather than the other way around, or non-tech companies where the pressure is lower because the goal is more stability and support rather than rapid innovation. Of course, this is the exact same dynamic that plays out with young consultants, accountants, lawyers, and doctors, who are also often initially attracted to high-powered, high-pressure environments but often end up deciding it's not for them, especially as they get older and start thinking about families.

ii) Specialize. There's no job out there with the title, "Computer Scientist." Employers are looking to hire you for a specific set of skills and knowledge. If you can identify the area of Computer Science you're interested in and the work you want to do in that area, you can again get a big leg up over your competition if you can demonstrate that you actually want to do what your future employer wants you to and that you're good at it. If you want to work with databases, then take those extra database electives and learn some other database technologies on your own time, and your resume will stand out amongst all the others for any DBA job.

iii) Don't sweat it too much. You've probably been alive for 22 years or so, so you'll probably be in the labor force for 50+ years. Your first job is not going to be your last job, and you may easily find your career path taking unexpected turns that you never even knew existed. Just like you didn't know what the areas of computer science were as a freshman, there are many many CS-related job types out there that you're not even aware of, and 50 years from now, there will probably be even more. While it may seem like your first job will set you on one path for the rest of your life, really it starts you towards 5000 possible paths out of millions in total. No, you don't get the stability of a "job for life" anymore, but that can also be freeing in a way. Don't worry about finding that "perfect" job; even if you did find it, you and the world around you will change over time anyway, so just take your first step confidently and always keep an eye out for your next one.

ScoreInternet Application DeveloperUS Average

Salary

7.0

Avg. Salary $89,072

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.2

Growth rate 13%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.42%

Asian 13.57%

Black or African American 7.07%

Hispanic or Latino 13.13%

Unknown 6.69%

White 59.12%

Gender

female 16.51%

male 83.49%

Age - 36

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 - 36

Stress level

5.2

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.3

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.8

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an internet application developer

Explore internet application developer education requirements

Most common internet application developer degrees

Bachelor's

72.6 %

Master's

11.6 %

Associate

8.4 %

Start to develop specific internet application developer skills

Skills	Percentages
Web Application	10.59%
JavaScript	10.41%
HTML	10.22%
Java	9.64%
SQL Server	8.89%

Complete relevant internet application developer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New internet application developers 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 internet application developer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real internet application developer resumes.

Research internet application developer duties and responsibilities

Manage, develop, integrate and implement relate applications components, including front-end development, server-side development and database integration.
Used Perl and CGI to develop database and website on UNIX platform.
Used MyBatis to fetch data from SQL server which is used inside the class to create a JSON data.
Experience in coding Linux scripts for monitoring space usage, reporting of system errors and automation of the deployment process.

Get internet application developer experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become an internet application developer. The most common roles before becoming an internet application developer include web developer, programmer team lead and software engineer.

Prepare your internet application developer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your internet application developer 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 internet application developer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable internet application developer resume templates

Build a professional internet application developer 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 internet application developer resume.

Apply for internet application developer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for an internet application developer 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

Average internet application developer salary

The average internet application developer salary in the United States is $89,072 per year or $43 per hour. Internet application developer salaries range between $70,000 and $112,000 per year.

Average internet application developer salary

$89,072 Yearly

$42.82 hourly

How do internet application developers rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Internet application developer reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on May 2019

Pros

Making your own website

Cons

Taking time to make it

What is an internet application developer and how to become one

What general advice would you give to an internet application developer?

Internet application developer career paths

Key steps to become an internet application developer

Explore internet application developer education requirements

Most common internet application developer degrees

Start to develop specific internet application developer skills

Complete relevant internet application developer training and internships

Research internet application developer duties and responsibilities

Get internet application developer experience

Prepare your internet application developer resume

Choose from 10+ customizable internet application developer resume templates

Apply for internet application developer jobs

How did you land your first internet application developer job

Average internet application developer salary

How do internet application developers rate their job?

Internet application developer reviews