Job opportunities for Mainframe developer jobs are some of the most lucrative in the I.T field. Not many of us know that Mainframe developers in the USA are paid an average of $40 an hour! The average annual salary is approximately $82,000, which is an incredibly good number.
Skill requirements for a mainframe developer
What exactly are companies looking for in a mainframe developer? The general outlook on most mainframe developer’s resumes lists analytical, communication, and creativity skills. A more detailed skills list has the following attributes:
- Exceptional talent in COBOL.
- Well-versed in IBM Mainframe systems.
- JCL
- DB2 program coding.
- Application development using CICS.
- Management of software development.
- SQL
- VSAM
Building a career in Mainframe in 2022
In 2021, the IT sector jobs faced challenges with millions losing employment. The IT sector in particular has been hard hit with millions of people losing their jobs. No one can predict how 2022 will be, and it all depends on the survival of the fittest.
If you are a budding Mainframe developer looking to make it big in this niche, here are the job opportunities you can expect with the current job trends:
Entry-level jobs for Mainframe developers include:
- Full Stack developer
- Remote on-base developer
- Remote back-end developer
- .NET developer
- UI developer
- .NET Sitecore developer.
The skill requirements for the above-mentioned entry jobs vary with every company, but the most common skills include:
- Management tools
- Java
- JavaScript
- SaaS
- Database
- XLM
- Jason
- NodeJS
- Python
- .NET framework
- JQuery.
The average salary for entry-level Mainframe developer jobs ranges from $63,000 to $81,000 per year. Skilled developers stand to gain more lucrative six-figure salaries.
The career graph of a Mainframe Developer
Before gaining a foothold as a Mainframe developer, most aspirants take up jobs that give them the practical skills, experience, and expertise that allows them to shine in their jobs in the later years. Most college freshers start off as:
- Program analysts
- Software engineers
- Mainframe programmer
- Consultants
- Project leaders
- Systems Analyst
- Module leads
So, what path do Mainframe developers take after their stint in this field? Developers who have years of experience and skills in their pocket may choose to deviate as:
- Senior software engineers
- Senior program analyst
- Mainframe programmer
- Quality assurance lead
- Hadoop developer
- Senior consultant
- Project manager
- Java developer
- Senior ETL developer
- Senior business analyst
Simple guidelines to becoming a Mainframe developer
If Mainframe jobs are what you are looking for, your education should become your top priority. In the USA, more than 60% of the Mainframe developers have a bachelor’s degree and more than 25% of them are armed with a master’s degree from a reputed institution.
What you study matters as much as where you study, and if Mainframe is your dream a master’s degree holds more value than an associate or diploma degree.
The following list gives you a glimpse of the popular academic streams chosen by Mainframe developers:
- Computer engineering.
- IT
- Computer Science
- Electrical engineering
- Computer applications and programming
- Computer systems security
- Mathematics
- Information sciences
- Management sciences
- Finance
But above all, skills and experience are priceless assets of an aspiring developer. Candidates with a simple college degree can outshine those with master’s degrees if they make the effort to learn the required skills of a Mainframe developer.
Top academic institutes in the USA for Mainframe developers
For the budding youth who have their eye on Mainframe and its career path, we recommend the following academic institutions:
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT)
- Stanford University
- Harvard University
- Duke University
- University of Pennsylvania
- Cornell University
- Dartmouth college
- Northwestern University
A promising 2022 for Mainframe developers
The pandemic and the subsequent lockdown has given Mainframe developers an advantageous edge as hoards of organizations have become internet-dependent. This has in turn led to a surge in the demand for COBOL skills, which is one of the primary requirements of Mainframe developers. The mainframe remains the popular choice for hosting business-critical applications. Many organizations are embracing DevOps and Agile methodologies as the next step in implementing modern development practices on Mainframe. Mainframe developers are critical assets for all businesses, and 2022 is the right time for all candidates to make hay while the sun shines!