How To Become A Senior Systems Developer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a senior systems developer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted Experts

Frank McCown Ph.D.,

Kevin Treu Ph.D.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a senior systems developer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $52.45 an hour? That's $109,095 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 21% and produce 284,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a Senior Systems Developer?

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.

ScoreSenior Systems DeveloperUS Average

Salary

7.8

Avg. Salary $109,095

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 29.97%

Black or African American 4.40%

Hispanic or Latino 8.14%

Unknown 4.79%

White 52.54%

Gender

female 18.99%

male 81.01%

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 senior systems developer

Explore senior systems developer education requirements

Most common senior systems developer degrees

Bachelor's

69.4 %

Master's

19.6 %

Associate

6.4 %

Start to develop specific senior systems developer skills

Skills	Percentages
Java	14.97%
C++	7.54%
API	4.71%
Linux	4.59%
Application Development	3.93%

Complete relevant senior systems developer training and internships

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

Research senior systems developer duties and responsibilities

Lead full SDLC including requirements gathering, training, development, testing, and implementation.
Develop database structures and AJAX interfaces for managing users metadata.
Configure and manage JGroup multicasting communication for apache tomcat web servers.
Provide API documentation and continual customer support for web services.

Get senior systems developer experience

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

Prepare your senior systems developer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior systems 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 a senior systems 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 Senior Systems Developer Resume templates

Build a professional Senior Systems 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 Senior Systems Developer resume.

Apply for senior systems developer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a senior systems 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

How do senior systems developers rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Senior Systems Developer reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Nov 2023

Pros

Problem solving and cutting edge technology - always learning and evolving my skill set

Cons

Still have to deal with people :)

A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2020

Pros

I enjoyed working on creative problems that dealt with the user interface

Cons

I didn't like how technical it could become

A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2019

Pros

Designing a new system or making changes to an old one.

Cons

Compensation. Pay and Benefits do not match the time spent on a project. Alabama is the Worst state to live in for SOFTWARE ENGINEER Salaries. 40 to 50 percent less than our peer States.

What is a senior systems developer and how to become one

What general advice would you give to a Senior Systems Developer?

Senior Systems Developer career paths

Key steps to become a senior systems developer

Explore senior systems developer education requirements

Most common senior systems developer degrees

Start to develop specific senior systems developer skills

Complete relevant senior systems developer training and internships

Research senior systems developer duties and responsibilities

Get senior systems developer experience

Prepare your senior systems developer resume

Choose From 10+ Customizable Senior Systems Developer Resume templates

Apply for senior systems developer jobs

How Did You Land Your First Senior Systems Developer Job

Average senior systems developer salary

How do senior systems developers rate their job?

Senior Systems Developer reviews