Aspiring software engineers are curious about their expected salary in the start of their career. Earning a competitive salary is very important for those who are thinking of working in the promising field of software engineering. There are various factors that influence the pay scale including, the location, experience, and industry. Therefore, knowing the average salary of software engineers in different locations and industries is essential. This article covers salary of junior software engineer and examines the average salary in different locations and industries and also tells about the various factors that impact the pay rate.
Average Junior Software Engineer Salary
The location has a great effect on the average salary of junior software engineer. For example, according to Glassdoor the average salary of Junior software engineer in Florida s around 67.578 dollars every year which is below the national average salary while the average salary of a software engineer in Florida is 94.398. In Berlin the average salary of a software engineer is around 55.000 euros while the salary of a junior software engineer in Berlin is 45.600 euros per year according to PayScale. These salaries are influenced by many factors as cost of living, saturation of the job market and others.
It should be noted that the industry also has an effect on the salary of junior software engineer, for example, the salary of junior software engineer working in healthcare industry is less than the salary of junior software engineer working in finance industry. The average salary in finance industry is 78.026 dollars per year and in healthcare industry it is 62.636 dollars according to Glassdoor.
Factors that Can Impact Junior Software Engineer Salary
Not only location and industry but there are also many other factors that impact the salary of a junior software engineer. Some other factors to consider are:
- Experience: The experience plays an important role in junior software engineer's salary. Like every other profession, the more the experience one has, the higher their salary will be. It is the differentiating factor from many other professionals applying for the job. The junior software engineer with more experience will earn more than the one who have less experience.
- Education: As education is not always required for starting a career as a software engineer, it helps a lot with salary negotiations. The aspirant with bachelor or master's degree in this field can earn highly salary then the one without a degree.
- Certifications: Having an industry certification can also play its role in the increment of the salary for junior software engineer. For example, the certification from IEEE Computer Society which is the Certified Software Development Professional certification can provide valuable experience and, in turn, a higher salary.
- Company size: The company size can influence the salary rate of junior software engineer. The larger companies pay higher salaries than the smaller ones.
- Company location: The location of any company offering the job to junior software engineer can impact the salary rate. As the companies situated in hubs like New York city and San Francisco may provide higher salary so that the top talent can be attracted.
Benefits and Perks
It is important to note that the potential companies not only provide the higher salaries but also some additional benefits. It varies by company to company, however, the common ones include:
- Health insurance: The health insurance is one of the benefit that is provided to the junior software engineers by the companies where they are doing job.
- Retirement savings: The retirement and saving options are offered by many companies to their employs. It is an added benefit and facilitate them. They offer 401 K plans and other saving options.
- Flexible work arrangements: Remote work and flexible schedule is the desire for everyone. Some companies provide these remote setting and give flexible schedules to junior software engineers.
- Professional development opportunities: Professional development such as taking part in conferences and enrolling in courses that can help to boost professional development are provided by some companies.
Job Outlook for Junior Software Engineers
Job outlook is very important when choosing the career apart from other factors such as salary and other benefits. The job outlook of junior software engineers is projected to grow by 22 percent from 2019 to 2029, according to US bureau of labor. It is much faster than the average rate for all the other professions. This projection is due the increased demand of new and improved software applications.
As we have seen that many factors impact the salary of Junior software engineer such as the location, experience and industry, it is crucial to research and have a sound knowledge before starting to search for a job, there are many other factors to consider before choosing a job as a Junior software engineer like the company's culture, benefits, opportunities to grow and develop and the type of projects you will be working on.
The opportunities for growth and development are very important and they can greatly help to improve and gain new skills to progress the career and boost your software engineer portfolio. It is very important to search for the company that invest in their employees and give incentives and opportunities such as training and mentorship to advance their career. The project on which a junior software engineer is working on can greatly impact the job satisfaction, so it is advice to work on an interesting and challenging project that also can align with the skills and interest of aspiring junior software engineer.