High School

Take a college preparatory program with advanced classes in math, science, and computer science to prepare you for this work. This will provide a foundation of basic concepts and encourage the development of analytic and logical thinking skills. Since programmer analysts do a lot of proposal writing that may or may not be technical in nature, English classes are valuable as well. Speech classes will help prepare you for making formal presentations to management and clients.

Postsecondary Training

A bachelor's degree in computer science, information science, or management information systems is a minimum requirement for systems programmer/analysts. Course work in preparation for this field includes math, computer programming, science, and logic. Several years of related work experience, including knowledge of programming languages, are often necessary as well.

For some high-level positions, an advanced degree in a specific computer subfield may be required. As a result of the rapid growth of electronic commerce, some firms are also seeking analysts with a master's degree in business administration, with a concentration in information systems, or a master’s degree in computer science. Also, depending on the employer, proficiency in business, science, or engineering may be necessary.

Other Education or Training

Staying up to date with industry developments is key to success as a programmer/analyst. Professional associations often provide continuing education opportunities. For example, student and professional members of the Association for Computing Machinery can access online computing and business courses via the association’s Learning Center. Visit http://learning.acm.org for details. The IEEE Computer Society offers career planning webinars and continuing education courses to its members. Visit https://www.computer.org/education for more information. 

Certification or Licensing

Some programmer analysts pursue certification through the Institute for Certification of Computing Professionals. In particular, they take classes and exams to become a certified computing professional and certified information systems analyst, or earn other certifications. Certification is voluntary and is an added credential for job hunters. Those who become certified have achieved a recognized level of knowledge and experience in principles and practices related to systems.

Knowledge of programming languages and experience as a programmer, software engineering technician, or network and database administrator will be useful for aspiring programmer/analysts.

Successful systems programmer/analysts demonstrate strong analytic skills and enjoy the challenges of problem solving. They are able to understand problems that exist on many levels, from technical to practical to business oriented. They can visualize complicated and abstract relationships between hardware and software and are good at matching needs to equipment.

Systems programmer/analysts have to be flexible as well. They routinely deal with many different kinds of people, from management to data entry clerks. Therefore, they must be knowledgeable in a lot of functional areas of the company. They should be able to talk to management about cost-effective solutions, to programmers about detailed coding, and to clerks about user-friendliness of the applications.

As is true for all computer professionals, systems programmer/analysts must be able to learn about new technology quickly. They should be naturally curious about keeping up on cutting-edge developments, which can be time consuming. Furthermore, they are often so busy at their jobs that staying in the know is done largely on their own time.