Software and technology
What does a Software Developer do?
Building and keeping running the systems other people work in.
What the day is like
- Indoors, under a roof.
- A screen and a keyboard.
- Largely on your own.
- Right or wrong, to a standard.
- Answerable for your own work.
The facts
- Pay
- $134,040 a year, median
- Software Developers, Quality Assurance Analysts, and Testers, May 2025
- Usually needs
- Bachelor's degree
- Several years, and usually a formal qualification.
- Jobs
- +10% projected change in jobs, 2025-2035 projections
- Demand looks growing
What is good about it
- It pays well against the rest of the work on this site.
- You answer for your own work rather than for other people, which suits more people than admit it.
What people find hard about it
- Sitting all day
- Requirements that change
- Work that is invisible when it goes well
Still growing, but entry-level hiring is the part most affected by AI tools.
Will machines take this job?
What machines will do to this work. Writing routine code and first-line support are the most exposed parts; system design and accountability are not.
How to find out whether it suits you
Build and ship one small tool that someone else actually uses.
Would this actually suit you?
CareerDNA works that out from what you choose rather than from what you say about yourself: two minutes of choosing between real jobs, a few puzzles, and some questions about what you are like. It is free, it saves as you go, and it will tell you plainly where the answer is thin.