How to land a high paying back-end developer job

With over 3.6 billion people using the internet, companies are adopting digital transformation to reach out to customers online.  Amidst these incredible fast-paced transformations of companies and their products, skilled back-end developers are at the center. These professionals are responsible for creating the architecture of web and SaaS applications, handling databases, and building APIs.

Back-end developers are the heroes working at the server-side of the web applications, empowering the whole software application structure. It is why many industries rely on back-end developers. According to the US Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the demand for back-end developers will increase by 13% by 2028. The survey at Columbia Engineering Bootcamp supports the statistics.

The eCommerce industry largely depends on back-end developers to deliver the best user experience. Industry experts believe that the rising popularity of mobile devices and the eCommerce industry will boost demand for back-end developers. An important figure to include here is from HubSpot’s study that indicates that global e-commerce retail sales will top $4.5 trillion. Back-end developers will be required to support this growth.

The statistics are a clear indication of an undisrupted back-end developer career growth and skills are essential to ensure that you won’t be hard-pressed for jobs. So let’s see what skills can land you a high-paying job.

Back-end developer career path: job requirements and responsibilities

As a back-end developer, besides writing server-side scripts, you will also create APIs to define protocols and routines to help websites and applications communicate with external servers. You will also be responsible for server logic, database management, and client-server data flow.

To be a qualified back-end developer, a candidate must be knowledgeable in the following:

• Skilled in advanced programming languages like Python, Java, C#, Ruby, and Visual Basic.
• Most employers want back-end developers also to know PHP and JavaScript.
• Knowledge of frameworks such as Laravel, Django, and Node.js.
• Working knowledge of most common databases such as MySQL, Oracle, and MongoDB.
• Knowledge of data structures and algorithms
• Understanding of API and ORM architecture.

No employer will expect you to be proficient with all the languages, databases, and frameworks listed above. It is tough to master them all. But you need to master a particular language and then develop your skills to include the rest of the tech stack to fit that language.

Most modern back-end developers focus on one or two languages. It helps them focus on learning the accompanying technologies.

Additional skills

Apart from the technical know-how, prospects of back-end developer job growth depend on additional skills such as:

• Analytical mindset
• Problem-solving skills
• Outside-the-box thinking
• Good communication skills

These skills make you a better team player. Also, you can easily translate business requirements into functional code with these skills under your belt.

Back-end developer career path: salary 

Most back-end developers’ work might not be visible immediately, but it’s crucial to ensure that a website or application runs smoothly. Back-end developers are core members of engineering teams. They are also some of the highest-paid professionals.

According to Glassdoor, the average base salary for a back-end developer is $80,713. Most entry-level developers can expect a pay of around $48K, while the experienced back-end developers can get as high as $132K. PayScale has a close take on the average salary figure as the average back-end developer salary is around $81,161 per year. Indeed reports the highest figure at $118,856 per year. However, Indeed included a $4,000 bonus each year in its salary calculation. 

Let’s look at Indian markets and how much salary back-end developers can expect in the country. If we average out all these figures, a back-end developer can expect an annual compensation of around $90,826. That’s a global figure. 

According to Glassdoor India, the average salary for back-end developers in the county is around INR 6,80,000 per annum. Back-end developers can earn up to INR 1,733,000 per annum, depending on location and skills. The most significant variation in back-end developer salary is due to the location. The average salary for back-end developers in New Delhi is around INR 8,19,000 a year. Mumbai pays lower than the national average. Back-end developers in the city report an average salary of around 7,21,000 per annum. Bangalore pays its back-end developers the highest at INR 8,72,000 per year.

According to the latest Stack Overflow survey, the median annual salary of Ruby developers is the highest. In 2021, the annual salary for backend developers based on technology as per the survey is:  

• Ruby – $80,000
• Python – $59,454
• SQL – $56,228
• Node.js – $54,672
• JavaScript – $54,049
• HTML/CSS – $52,980
• Java – $51,888
• PHP – $38,916

Back-end developer job growth: number of openings 

As of writing this article, the demand for back-end developers is massive. Naukri.com has over 1,17,000 job openings for back-end developers for full-time positions. Around 4000 remote work opportunities are available on the site. LinkedIn has 20,000+ job openings for back-end developers, followed by Glassdoor, with over 5800 full-time positions.

If you decide to go the freelance route, still back-end developer career path has many opportunities on the way. There are abundant freelancing opportunities for back-end developers on TopTal, Dice, Codementor, and Developers for Hire. On average, freelance back-end developers make $61-80 an hour. You can have a career you love and make decent money as a freelancer.

As the digital transformation of companies is at an all-time high, the demand for back-end developers will grow further.

Back-end developer jobs: where to look 

Job boards like Stack Overflow, GitHub, and ITJobPro are valuable resources for job postings. These platforms are popular in the software development industry. It is easier to land a back-end development job on these platforms because they allow you to share your resume with potential employers based on recommendations, project experience, and proven skills. 

For remote opportunities, backend developers can join Talent500. The platform has an elite global developer community. From Fortune 500’s to high-impact startups, multinational companies build their engineering teams with Talent500.

Conclusion 

The back-end developer career path has its share of challenges. It might be a challenging job on some days, but it is a fulfilling career most days. Remember, your task will be translating business requirements into elegant and efficient code as a back-end developer. You will require the skills that we have listed above.

If you’re a talented back-end developer looking for a challenging opportunity or upskilling program, Talent500 can help. Join our pool of elite software professionals to land high-paying jobs at Fortune500 companies.