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The Big Payoff: CertMag’s 2004 Salary Survey
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The
Big Payoff: CertMag’s 2004 Salary Survey
December 2004 - Tim Sosbe
There’s
no doubt that certified professionals can earn more-than-respectable
salaries. Even at the entry level, pay in the knowledge-heavy,
education-driven IT marketplace floats above averages for
other industries.
But if you’re really looking to score, certifying
yourself in certain specialties within the IT world offers
bigger payoffs and better long-term career solutions. Based
on salary figures from the 2004 Certification Magazine Salary
Survey, you might want to consider a career in either Cisco
networking, telephony, project management or IT security.
According to CertMag’s annual, industry-wide study
of the effects of certification on global salaries for information
technology professionals, credentials supporting those skills
are currently earning the highest pay for certified experts.
In a year when a record number of IT professionals from
a record-number of countries helped benchmark the importance
of certification to your bottom line, those specific specialties
stood out.
Cisco certification led the list for the second consecutive
year, with the Cisco Certified Internetworking Expert (CCIE)
credential promising the highest salary for certified IT
professionals, an annual salary of $105,140 for its senior-level
experts.
Following CCIE, other top-earning credentials in the 2004
CertMag survey were the Planet3 Wireless CWSP program ($94,050),
EMC Proven Professional ($93,470), the Project Management
Institute's credentials ($89,630), the (ISC)2 Certified
Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification
($85,960), Cisco Qualified Specialist: IP Telephony ($84,620)
and (ISC)2's Systems Security Certified Practitioner (SSCP)
($84,310). Those strong numbers and the impressive salaries
for 80 other certification programs measured showed certification
is still a winning investment for IT experts, who earned
on average $67,000 in total compensation for 2004, up significantly
from 2003's average salary of $63,540. Certified professionals
averaged a 14.1 percent salary increase for 2004, down from
the average 15.1 percent increase enjoyed in 2003.
Figure 1 shows average salaries for 85 certification programs
and general certification categories. For the 2004 survey,
nearly 35,000 IT professionals from 160 countries provided
information on their salaries, certifications and experience.
Information was provided by Certification Magazine readers
and IT experts invited to share their salary data by 27
industry-leading companies, including Apple, Cisco, CompTIA,
Hewlett- Packard, IBM, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle, Prometric,
Red Hat, Sun Microsystems and VUE.
Who Are You?
The average respondent in the 2004 salary survey has 2.96
certifications currently, having added on average one new
credential in the past year. Looking ahead, 83.2 percent
of respondents plan to add more certifications in the coming
year.
The IT industry continues to be male-dominated, with 90.3
percent of the respondents male. Interestingly, while Figure
2 shows how 2004 saw a shift in pay from 2003’s salary
survey, the combined numbers show a different gender gap
emerging: While women earned 3.25 percent less in 2003 on
average, the 2004 survey reported women making roughly $1,000
more than their male counterparts.
The majority of survey respondents were between the ages
of 25 and 49, but older workers reported the highest salary
levels by age group. Respondents in the 55-to-59 age bracket
earned an average of $65,050, while those aged 60 to 64
averaged $66,380. Figure 3 shows the positive effects of
age and experience on IT salaries.
Longevity once again proved to be a winning strategy for
increasing salaries. The 2004 survey showed salaries generally
climbing for each year with an organization. Among respondents,
16.1 percent have been on the job less than one year, while
10.9 percent have been with the same employer for more than
10 years. Figure 4 shows the benefits of company loyalty
to the bottom line.
Ninety-six percent of respondents work full time, with 72.9
percent working more than 40 hours per week. Respondents
worked in a variety of IT functions, with the largest percentages
being those in network administration, network engineering
and system administration. In terms of specialty, system
design and storage were the highest paying areas of specialization
in the survey, with system design experts earning an average
salary of $83,510 and storage professionals making an average
of $80,980. Figure 5 shows average salaries by area of specialization.
Survey respondents have an average of 10.9 years in information
technology. Certification seems to be a way of life for
younger IT professionals, with 58.2 percent of respondents
certifying their skills within five years of starting in
IT. The survey showed 15.6 percent of those respondents
alone received a certification less than a year after joining
the IT industry. Figure 6 shows the benefits experience
has on certification salaries.
Certified professionals work at organizations of all sizes,
with 17.2 percent of survey respondents working for companies
with less than 50 employees and 13 percent working for firms
with more than 50,000 employees. Not surprisingly, larger
companies generally pay more, with certified professionals
at companies with less than 100 employees averaging an annual
salary of $56,450, as compared to a yearly average of $74,290
at companies with 30,000 or more employees. Figure 7 shows
the effects company size has on average certified IT salaries.
On the international front, Switzerland once again compensates
its IT professionals at the highest levels, with an annual
average of $76,330 (in U.S. dollars). The United States
fell to third place on this year’s survey at $63,280,
coming in behind Denmark’s $66,950. Figure 8 shows
a selection of salary data from the 160 countries represented
in this year’s survey.
Rewarding Venture
Salary wasn’t the only measurement of success for
survey respondents. This year, 41.1 percent of respondents
reported receiving a raise in the first year after receiving
the credential they feel is their primary certification.
Among respondents, 71.5 percent received up to 15 percent
salary increases in that first year. Nearly 45 percent of
respondents think that their primary certification played
a significant role in earning the salary boost.
Post-certification movement was up for 2004, with 29.8 percent
of respondents reporting that they received a new position
in their company or with a new employer after certifying
their skills. In 2003, 27 percent of respondents saw promotions
or job changes after certification. For 27.5 percent of
respondents, achieving the primary certification brought
a promotion within a year. Among those promoted, 57 percent
feel the certification was a significant factor in earning
the promotion.
Certification brings other non-monetary benefits to the
table for IT professionals, according to the CertMag survey.
Respondents cited a variety of other rewards they strongly
feel certification provides, including gaining skills for
a future job (86.9 percent), proving to themselves they
can get the credential (81.7 percent), becoming eligible
for a supervisory role (55.7 percent) and being part of
a wider IT community (57.4 percent).
More good news in the CertMag survey is the fact that employers
increasingly seem to be picking up the cost of certification
as an investment in a qualified workforce. In this year’s
survey, 48 percent of respondents have employers who pay
the entire tab, up from 42 percent in the 2003 survey. This
year, 37.9 percent of respondents paid entirely for their
own certifications, down from 43 percent last year. Figure
9 shows the division of the certification costs.
As in previous years, the annual survey showed that salary
is just one of the byproducts of certification. In the survey,
74.5 percent of respondents feel strongly that certification
makes them more confident IT professionals. Also, 68 percent
of respondents strongly feel being certified earns them
more respect from managers and colleagues.
Perhaps more importantly, 60.7 percent of respondents are
confident that certification has increased the demand for
their skills, and another 60.1 percent credit certification
for improving their problem-solving skills. What’s
more, 58 percent of respondents are convinced that certification
helps them increase their productivity on the job.
Respondents also seem comfortable with their own futures,
with 90.1 percent reporting not being laid off or having
hours reduced in the past year, and 89.4 percent expecting
no layoffs or cuts in the coming year.
Wise Investment
Both salary increases and non-monetary benefits of certification
are clear from the CertMag survey. What’s also clear
is that certification is a wise investment that yields a
sizable return in other areas.
According to the survey, 79 percent of respondents spent
less than $1,000 on materials needed to earn their primary
certification, with 64.2 percent spending less than $500.
Of course, there is another way to go: 1.4 percent of respondents
spent more than $10,000 on materials to certify themselves.
On average, respondents spent $1,039 on materials to get
their primary certification.
Factoring in costs for training and materials, 32.7 percent
spent less than $500 on certification and 5.8 percent spent
more than $10,000. On average, respondents spent $2,620
for materials and training to earn their primary credential.
The 2004 CertMag Salary Survey also asked respondents to
rank the value of various study materials and methods. As
they have in previous surveys, self-study books, on-the-job
training and practice exams showed the highest level of
use and confidence among respondents. Job training scored
the highest, with 73.5 percent of respondents ranking it
as very or extremely valuable, followed by practice exams
(69.4 percent), books (68.1 percent), instructor-led training
(45.7 percent) and product documentation (39.3 percent).
Finally, as Figure 10 shows, certified professionals generally
feel positive about the companies and organizations behind
their IT certifications. Asked to rank their primary certification
program on quality of learning materials, quality of the
overall educational experience, quality of instructors,
quality of the exam, comprehensiveness of the program and
overall value, respondents showed strong support and faith
in their credentials.
Tim Sosbe is editorial director of Certification Magazine.
E-mail Tim with your questions and comments at tsosbe@certmag.com.
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