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

What is a software consultant and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted experts

Frank McCown Ph.D.,

Kevin Treu Ph.D.

Software consultants provide advice to clients on how to get and use customized software solutions to meet their business objectives. They may also work with the software professionals of an organization to create customized software solutions to the unique problems of an organization, test and deploy solutions to ensure they satisfy the client's needs.

Software consultants may also be hired to assist in the development of new software technology that will dominate a competitive market for a business. The responsibility of a software consultant may also include assisting in the training of a company's staff on the technical procedures and applications of a newly deployed software system.

To work as a software consultant, you are required to have a bachelor's degree in computer science or software engineering. You are also required to have strong communication skills, written or verbal, problem-solving skills, analytical skills, project management skills. The annual base salary of a software consultant is $84,983.

What general advice would you give to a software consultant?

Frank McCown Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Harding University

The market is stable for software developers, despite the economic challenges created by the pandemic. Before accepting a job offer, talk to the company's employees through online meetings or email, and see what they think of the company. Do they enjoy their work? Are there opportunities to learn new technologies? How does the company treat their employees? There's a good chance you will be working remotely in your first job, so you will need to exercise a lot of self-discipline, be punctual for online meetings, do the work you've been assigned, and know when to ask questions when you get stuck. Expect a steeper-than-normal learning curve if you are working remotely instead of in an office.

ScoreSoftware ConsultantUS Average

Salary

6.9

Avg. Salary $88,605

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.0

Growth rate 21%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.17%

Asian 29.80%

Black or African American 4.59%

Hispanic or Latino 8.36%

Unknown 4.85%

White 52.24%

Gender

female 24.69%

male 75.31%

Age - 38

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 - 38

Stress level

4.0

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.9

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.6

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a software consultant

Explore software consultant education requirements

Most common software consultant degrees

Bachelor's

67.8 %

Master's

20.7 %

Associate

6.8 %

Start to develop specific software consultant skills

Skills	Percentages
Web Application	8.52%
Database	7.36%
Java	6.49%
PL/SQL	5.01%
SQL Server	4.57%

Complete relevant software consultant training and internships

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

Research software consultant duties and responsibilities

Develop a tool under Linux using C/C++ and raw network sockets to automate testing and for bench marking.
Develop and implement Unix and Perl shell scripts to automate application support process and to minimize troubleshooting latency.
Develop UI using HTML, JavaScript, JSP, DHTML, CSS for interactive cross browser functionality and complex user interface.
Design and review Java application architecture; analyze software development process and suggest alternative technologies.

Prepare your software consultant resume

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

Choose from 10+ customizable software consultant resume templates

Build a professional software consultant 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 software consultant resume.