Analysing your IQ
Please Wait
A psychometric breakdown of the cognitive hardware required to succeed in the STEM industry.
Methodology Note: IQ requirements listed are estimates based on occupational psychology research (Hunter & Schmidt, 1996; Gottfredson, 1997) correlating cognitive ability with job performance. These are statistical thresholds, not individual requirements. Many successful professionals in every field score below or above these estimates. Intelligence is one factor among many including training, experience, personality traits, and opportunity.
15-30 points above global average
Daily processing demand
This is a psychometric view of Software Developer: the cognitive load, the stress profile, and the temperament that makes the work sustainable.
Cognitive load is Medium. That means sustained reasoning is required, not occasional cleverness.
Stress demand is 9/10 and burnout risk is Moderate. Your recovery systems matter as much as your skill.
Social demand is 4/10 and structure demand is 8/10. This predicts whether the job feels energizing or draining day-to-day.
Logic demand is 3/10. This is a proxy for how often you must reason from first principles rather than follow playbooks.
The role of a Software Developer is classified as a Medium-load profession. This means the daily tasks require significant working memory and pattern recognition. While IQ is not the only factor, individuals with a score below 100 typically struggle with the speed of learning required in this field.
Beyond raw IQ, this job demands a Logic Capacity of 3/10. This suggests that analytical reasoning is more important than creative divergence for day-to-day success.
The burnout risk is rated as Moderate. This is largely driven by the stress demand of 9/10. High IQ individuals often have higher sensitivity to stress, meaning intelligent people in this role must implement strict "Cognitive Offloading" protocols to survive long-term.
A common misconception is that IQ alone predicts success. In reality, discipline and environment design often dominate outcomes once you’re above a baseline competence threshold.
Reduce open loops, enforce a shutdown routine, and treat recovery like training. High-stress roles punish “always-on” behavior.
Choose a narrower niche, build templates, and ship repetitions. Volume + feedback loops often beats raw speed.
IQ estimates are derived from peer-reviewed research correlating cognitive ability with occupational performance. Key sources include:
This analysis is for informational purposes only. Individual outcomes depend on many factors beyond cognitive ability including experience, education, personality traits, and opportunity.
A common estimate is a minimum IQ around 100 for comfortable learning speed in this role. It’s not a strict cutoff, but below it the ramp-up is usually slower and more stressful.
Stress demand is rated 9/10 with burnout risk Moderate. If you don’t build recovery (sleep, boundaries, exercise), stress compounds.
Roles with high structure demand (8/10) reward conscientiousness; roles with high social demand (4/10) reward social energy and emotional regulation.
Sometimes, yes—especially if you use strong systems and choose a niche with clearer structure. The tradeoff is usually time: it may take longer to reach the same performance level.