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

What is a systems programmer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted Experts

Frank McCown Ph.D.,

Christian Hansen Ph.D.

Systems programmers are IT professionals responsible for the error-free functioning of a computer operating system. They install hardware and software and take care of every aspect of the system. Working in this position, you will be the one to design optimal functioning of operation systems, install applications, upgrade processes, and troubleshoot whenever necessary.

You will be responsible for performing system maintenance testing and evaluating hardware and software regularly. You will most likely work in office environments in a team of other IT professionals and technicians, leading the regular 9 to 5 job lifestyle. You will be expected to report to the IT manager and hang out by the watercooler in your free time.

What general advice would you give to a Systems Programmer?

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.

ScoreSystems ProgrammerUS Average

Salary

7.5

Avg. Salary $96,017

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 14.87%

Black or African American 5.16%

Hispanic or Latino 9.12%

Unknown 4.76%

White 65.91%

Gender

female 15.97%

male 84.03%

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 systems programmer

Explore systems programmer education requirements

Most common systems programmer degrees

Bachelor's

69.7 %

Associate

15.8 %

Master's

10.5 %

Start to develop specific systems programmer skills

Skills	Percentages
Provide Technical Assistance	11.78%
Video Conferencing	7.68%
C++	7.45%
Database	5.37%
Mainframe	4.70%

Complete relevant systems programmer training and internships

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

Research systems programmer duties and responsibilities

Configure TCP/IP, NFS for user networking communication and manage the network security for faster and reliable performance.
Advise CICS development on functional changes to take advantage of hardware cache enhancements, improving the performance of future CICS releases.
Achieve improved efficiency and cost reduction goals through efforts and expertise provide in multiple LPAR eliminations and data center consolidations.
Create and maintain programs by using the following languages: COBOL, SQL, HTML, and JavaScript.

Prepare your systems programmer resume

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

Choose From 10+ Customizable Systems Programmer Resume templates

Build a professional Systems Programmer 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 Systems Programmer resume.

Apply for systems programmer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a systems programmer 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 systems programmers rate their job?

-/5

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Systems Programmer reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2023

Pros

$88K may be the average, but a Senior CICS System Programmer (let's say 5 to 10 years of experience, and really knowledgeable) will pay $70/hour. Again, you really have to know your internals and debugging, and newer stuff like CPSM, TCP/IP, JVM, etc.

Cons

You will be oncall...personally,I am once every 5 weeks. My shop is pretty static, so I don't get called often...but some shops can have brutal oncalls.