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Software Developer
Software Developer profiles score highest on Organizing and Exploring. This page covers what the work involves, what the trait profile looks like, what it pays, and where the fit tends to break.
- Median pay
- $100,390per year, U.S. BLS 2025
- Entry education
- Bachelor's degreetypical for the occupation
SOURCE · O*NET 15-1251.00 and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Figures are national and vary widely by state and setting.
What the work involves
Create, modify, and test the code and scripts that allow computer applications to run. Work from specifications drawn up by software and web developers or other individuals. May develop and write computer programs to store, locate, and retrieve specific documents, data, and information.
Skills rated most important
Work context
O*NET importance and frequency ratings, 0–100.
The trait profile
Where Software Developer profiles sit on the eleven Haliscope traits, derived from O*NET’s published interest and work-style data.
Who it fits, and who it doesn’t
Strong signals
- High Analyzing. Measures your drive to understand systems and solve problems. High scorers are knowledge-seeking, strategic thinkers who enjoy investigating and finding solutions.
- High Creating. Measures your inclination toward original thinking and artistic expression. High scorers generate innovative ideas and find rigid structure limiting.
- High Organizing. Measures your preference for structure, detail, and systematic processes. High scorers excel at creating order, optimizing workflows, and maintaining precision.
- High Exploring. Measures your openness to new experiences and curiosity about the unknown. High scorers seek novelty, enjoy experimentation, and value the journey itself.
Friction points
- Low Analyzing. Measures your drive to understand systems and solve problems. High scorers are knowledge-seeking, strategic thinkers who enjoy investigating and finding solutions.
- Low Creating. Measures your inclination toward original thinking and artistic expression. High scorers generate innovative ideas and find rigid structure limiting.
- Low Organizing. Measures your preference for structure, detail, and systematic processes. High scorers excel at creating order, optimizing workflows, and maintaining precision.
- Low Exploring. Measures your openness to new experiences and curiosity about the unknown. High scorers seek novelty, enjoy experimentation, and value the journey itself.
These are what the occupation’s profile says, not a hiring criterion. Haliscope is not validated for hiring or screening, and none of these is disqualifying — they are where a fit most often breaks.
Getting in
Entry education: Bachelor's degree.
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
O*NET Job Zone descriptions, U.S. Department of Labor.
Exposure to AI
How much of this work AI can already do, and how much AI tools help the people doing it, is scored task by task in the AI Risk Index.
Related occupations
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