How To Become A Cobol Programmer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a cobol programmer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted Experts

Brian Glas,

Christian Hansen Ph.D.

COBOL is a programming language that stands for Common Business Oriented Language. It's not as trendy as languages like Python, Java, or C++, but there's still a healthy demand for programmers proficient in COBOL. Cobol Programmers mainly work for corporate businesses, especially since about 80% of business apps run on COBOL. Like any software programmer, they are responsible for designing digital tools, troubleshooting existing systems, and maintaining and developing databases.

Most employers require their Cobol Programmers to have a college diploma. Cobol Programmers in the United States commonly hold degrees in Computer Science, Computer Systems Security, and Management Information Systems. Other qualifications include troubleshooting skills, analytical skills, and a keen eye for detail.

The average Cobol Programmer in the United States earns a yearly salary of $85,000. Although, those in Washington, California, and Colorado tend to make higher paychecks. Employers like Randstad USA, Express Scripts, and CACI International pay their Cobol Programmers a highly competitive salary of $91,000 or more on average.

What general advice would you give to a Cobol Programmer?

Brian Glas

Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Union University

Build relationships: Different technologies will interest and challenge you, but throughout your career, you'll find that it's the relationships that are the most important. This is harder to grasp earlier in your career, but much easier to understand after 15-20 years.
Gain different perspectives: Spend time with people in other roles that your job interacts with, and gain a solid understanding of how they view things; this is most valuable for career progression and understanding of how your work fits into the big picture.

ScoreCobol ProgrammerUS Average

Salary

6.6

Avg. Salary $84,879

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

5.1

Growth Rate -7%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.18%

Asian 14.98%

Black or African American 5.04%

Hispanic or Latino 8.89%

Unknown 4.71%

White 66.20%

Gender

female 24.72%

male 75.28%

Age - 48

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 48

Stress Level

5.1

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

7.3

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

5.7

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a cobol programmer

Explore cobol programmer education requirements

Most common cobol programmer degrees

Bachelor's

63.1 %

Associate

24.7 %

Master's

7.3 %

Start to develop specific cobol programmer skills

Skills	Percentages
SQL	13.59%
COBOL	8.45%
Debugging	6.34%
IBM Mainframe	5.50%
Db2	5.01%

Complete relevant cobol programmer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New cobol programmers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a cobol programmer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real cobol programmer resumes.

Research cobol programmer duties and responsibilities

Lead team in the development of an online application using JavaScript and XML that access mainframe components.
Train the local programming staff in JCL and in revise COBOL coding to take advantage of the expanded mainframe processing capacity.
Achieve improved efficiency and cost reduction goals through efforts and expertise provide in multiple LPAR eliminations and data center consolidations.
Modify and unit test programs using SAS, SQL, COBOL and UNIX according to business requirement.

Prepare your cobol programmer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your cobol programmer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a cobol programmer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Cobol Programmer Resume templates

Build a professional Cobol Programmer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Cobol Programmer resume.

Apply for cobol programmer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a cobol programmer job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do cobol programmers rate their job?