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

What is a software specialist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted experts

Frank McCown Ph.D.,

Christian Hansen Ph.D.

Software specialists focus on installing, managing, and updating a business's software. Modern businesses use a variety of software to do their work, from email programs to accounting software such as QuickBooks. However, not all workers are familiar with these new technologies. Software specialists help their colleagues learn how to use and optimize software in the office. They make recommendations for any new software that could streamline workflow.

Software specialists maintain, update, and troubleshoot software, sometimes writing new code in order to adapt software to a business' particular needs. Software specialists need to have a breadth of technical knowledge, including coding languages such as Javascript, operating systems such as Linux, and various softwares used in business. They also need excellent communication skills in order to teach their coworkers how to use software and discuss any issues with management.

Some software specialists have only an associate degree or a certificate and are self-taught. However, it is much easier to get hired in this field with a bachelor's or even a master's degree in computer science or a related subject. Software specialists also need several years of professional experience, for example working as software engineers or IT support analysts. Once they specialize in software, they can earn an average salary of $80,729 a year.

What general advice would you give to a software specialist?

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 SpecialistUS Average

Salary

6.6

Avg. Salary $84,009

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 29.96%

Black or African American 4.41%

Hispanic or Latino 8.15%

Unknown 4.79%

White 52.52%

Gender

female 32.81%

male 67.19%

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

8.1

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 specialist

Explore software specialist education requirements

Most common software specialist degrees

Bachelor's

66.8 %

Associate

15.3 %

Master's

10.7 %

Start to develop specific software specialist skills

Skills	Percentages
C++	8.37%
C #	8.37%
Database	6.59%
Software Development	6.29%
Java	5.01%

Complete relevant software specialist training and internships

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

Research software specialist duties and responsibilities

Develop Javascript code that integrates with Accela in order to automate business process.
Manage and design UAT tests for new software release, delegate out tasks, and report results back to QA department.
Analyze data sources and parameters for reports generate in PL/SQL and XML.
Develop and support custom applications utilizing Perl, HTML, and SQL.

Get software specialist experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a software specialist. The most common roles before becoming a software specialist include software engineer, senior software engineer team lead and programmer analyst.

Prepare your software specialist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your software specialist 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 specialist 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 specialist resume templates

Build a professional software specialist 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 specialist resume.