Survey: IT Certifications Lead to Better Jobs, Pay

Professionals in the IT industry are traditionally more likely to put their faith in cold, hard facts. When it comes to the not-quite-age-old, but-getting-there question of the industry certifications’ true value, numbers, more and more, back up the claims of proponents of accreditation.

In a new survey of 700 IT professionals, nearly three-quarters of the respondents credit their certifications for promotions, new jobs and other career benefits.

In addition, 40 percent of those queried in the survey, co-produced by Network World and software vendor, SolarWinds, circled certifications for boosting their pay by more than 10 percent, as reported in Network World.

Promotion or job eligibility were prime motivators for certification cited by half of those surveyed, with only cursory credit given to job requirements, surprisingly.

More cold, hard numbers: Certifications led to a new job for 60 percent of survey respondents; half said it helped them earn more pay; and 29 percent said certifications led to a promotion. Security-related certifications were most frequently cited for some of the highest-paid individuals, with CompTIA Security+ singled out as the most popular of the pack.

While the broad spectrum of vendor-specific certifications performed well - Cisco products were cited most frequently and, interestingly enough, considered both most and least valuable - offerings by CompTIA including CompTIA Network+, CompTIA Linux+ and the entry-level CompTIA A+ rated high across the board, according to findings.

Survey respondents offered advice on when to get certifications and which ones to get. With a proven success track through certifications for IT veterans, industry professionals no longer see it as the domain of the entry-level and inexperienced.

As this survey suggests, certifications serve as a potent fuel in the drive to technical industry success.