Career Path

Computer Programmer

Overview

In this career, your responsibilities may include:

Writing code that allows computer programs to function properly.
Testing new programs to ensure that they operate as expected, and fixing them if necessary.
Working closely with software developers, who design the frameworks for which the computer programmers write the code.

Job Titles

In your job search, you may find listings for this career under different titles. You can find some examples of these, as well as more information about this career, at Career One Stop.

Academic Requirements

Typically requires a bachelor’s degree. Obtaining a master’s degree can make you eligible for careers with greater responsibility and higher salaries in this career pathway, if you do not already have the U.S. equivalent of a master’s degree.

Certification

Certification is not required, but could make employers more likely to hire you or offer you a higher salary.

You may be eligible for one of the following certifications:

C Programming Language Certified Associate

Certified Secure Software Lifecycle Professional (CSSLP)

Puppet Certified Professional (PCP)

Adobe Certified Expert (ACE), many different options
Licensure

Licensure is not required to work as a Computer Programmer.
Mutual Recognition Agreement
A Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) is an agreement between two or more jurisdictions to accept the educational or professional credentials granted under each other’s authority. This means that if you graduated with a specific degree or earned certain professional qualifications in a country covered under an MRA, your credentials may be automatically recognized here in the U.S.

The Seoul Accord is an MRA between accrediting organizations in multiple countries to recognize each other’s academic qualifications. If you graduated from an accredited computing or other IT program in one of the 8 non-U.S. jurisdictions covered by the Seoul Accord, then your degree may already be declared substantially equivalent to a degree from a U.S. program, and you may not need to obtain a credential evaluation. However, individual state licensing boards have the final authority on whether or not a particular degree meets their specific requirements for licensure. MRAs are not legally binding, and some states may choose not to recognize credentials covered under an MRA.
- In addition to the U.S., the jurisdictions that have signed to the Seoul Accord are: Australia; Canada; Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China; Japan; Korea; Mexico; Taiwan, Republic of China; and United Kingdom.