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

What is a programmer consultant and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a programmer consultant. For example, did you know that they make an average of $38.87 an hour? That's $80,842 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -7% and produce -17,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreProgrammer ConsultantUS Average

Salary

6.3

Avg. Salary $80,842

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 14.91%

Black or African American 5.12%

Hispanic or Latino 9.05%

Unknown 4.74%

White 66.00%

Gender

female 21.01%

male 78.99%

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 programmer consultant

Explore programmer consultant education requirements

Most common programmer consultant degrees

Bachelor's

67.1 %

Master's

15.2 %

Associate

12.4 %

Start to develop specific programmer consultant skills

Skills	Percentages
SQL Server	14.41%
Windows	10.37%
Web Application	8.12%
R	7.67%
Java	5.77%

Complete relevant programmer consultant training and internships

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

Research programmer consultant duties and responsibilities

Apply HTML and Java to manage forms and navigation, and CGI to collect user input.
Provide SharePoint development and administration, budget and financial reporting; manage invoicing; and develop training manuals and user guides.
Work on the SYS34, SYS36 and SYS38 using RPG code.
Used C++ / STL, SQL, XML, Ajax, MySql, and shell scripts ,

Prepare your programmer consultant resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your programmer consultant resume.

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Choose from 10+ customizable programmer consultant resume templates

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