A survey from the Global Knowledge and Windows IT Pro, which are the authoritative website in America, called the IT Skills and Salary Report, reveals the top 10 most valuable (highest-paid) certificates in the IT industry.
Highest-paid Certificates in the IT Industry
CRISC: Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control
According to the requirements of the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA), this certificate holder is well acquainted with the information system risks and can design/implement the security solutions. According to the IT Skills and Salary Report, the average annual salary for holders of the certificate is USD 119,227. It is a great certificate for those people who are interested in a position of the information systems control.
CISM: Certified Information Security Member
The CISM certification requires a high proficiency of the holders in the information security management. The certification examines the management, design and evaluation of the information about a particular organization. There are prerequisites for this certification, such as holding another certificate (for example, GIAC). The average annual salary for holders of the certificate is USD 118,348 according to the report.
CISSP: Certified Information Systems Security Professional
CISSP certification is an actual assessment of information system security professionals or certificates from the Internet Security Conference (ISC). Like CRISC and CISM above, these certificates recognize proficiency in security and risk management, as well as in the safety of the software development. The average annual CISSP certification salary is USD 110,603.
PMP: Project Management Professional
The average annual salary for holders of the certificate is USD 109,405, and the PMP certification ranks 4th which is organized by the Project Management Institute (PMI). PMP certification requires the holder to understand the various programming languages of project management.
CISA: Certified Information Systems Auditor
CISA, another certification of the IASCA, requires information systems auditors to have the necessary skills to evaluate systems and follow best practices to “support trust and value in information systems”. The average annual salary for holders of the certificate is USD 106,181.
CCDA: Cisco Certified Network Associate
CCDA is Cisco’s network designing certification. This certification requires candidates to acquire another Cisco certificate (such as CCNP Routing and Switching or any CCIE certificate), as this is a requirement of CCDA. The average annual salary for holders of the certificate is USD 99,701. If you are interested in becoming a network engineer, this certificate is the top certification in the network field.
CCNP: Cisco Certified Network Professional
The average annual salary for holders of the certificate is USD 97,038. The CCNP is the 7th highest-paid certificate and most candidates opt for taking CCNP 350-401 exam and get the CCNP enterprise certification. This certification is useful for people with at least one year of network experience to certify that the holder has the ability to implement and maintain a wide area network and to work with experts to develop solutions.
MCSE: Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer
MCSE is the certification of the Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer for networking professionals. MCSE is a qualified person who is proven to effectively plan, implement, maintain, and support information systems in a wide range of computing environments built with Microsoft Windows NT Server and Microsoft Backoffice Server product series. The average annual salary for holders of the certificate is USD 96,215.
ITIL certification
Since the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) was proposed by the British Ministry of Commerce in the mid-1980s, ITIL, as the actual international standard for IT service management, has been fully supported by almost all IT giants around the world. IBM, HP, Microsoft, CAITIL, BMC, ASG and other famous multinational companies, as the active advocates of ITIL, have launched IT service management software and implementation programs based on ITIL. The average annual salary for holders of the certificate is USD 95,434.
CEH: Certificated Ethical Hacker
For information technology workers who want to specialize in “legitimate” hacking, it is a vendor-neutral (meaning it is not associated with any brand) certificate, using the same knowledge and tools as malicious hackers. The holder is required to have at least two years of related safety working experience. The average annual salary for holders of the certificate is USD 95,155.
