If you work in tech, you know that certifications can help you potentially land new jobs and advance your career. But which certifications offer a significant pay premium? Fortunately, we have some updated data on which certifications pay above average and are gaining in market value.
Analyst firm Foote Partners’ IT Skills and Certifications Pay Index (ITSCPI), which is updated quarterly, provides some crucial insight into the payouts for 632 certifications. The following data on the top certifications by market-value gain is for the six months ending on April 1; in this context, “pay premium” denotes the increase over base salary equivalent:
What can we conclude from this? While certifications aren’t necessary for tech jobs—according to the latest Dice Tech Salary Report, some 51 percent of tech professionals had certifications in 2023, up only slightly from the previous year—they can certainly pay off in the context of highly specialized fields such as cybersecurity and networking. If you’re currently focusing on cybersecurity, CyberSeek, a joint initiative of the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Nice program, recommends becoming familiar with the following:
- CompTIA Security+
- Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA)
- Global Information Assurance Certification (GIAC)
- Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)
- Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP)
“If you’re new to the field and did not pursue a bachelor’s degree or internships were not available to you, the right certifications can be a great way to demonstrate practical knowledge, motivation and a desire to learn. They are, however, not typically required, except in cases where regulation and compliance for specific industries mandate that employees must have them,” Melissa Bischoping, director of endpoint security research at Tanium, told Dice last year.
Even if you don’t need certifications to land any tech job, keep in mind that they can help you stand out when applying for new positions: roughly 80 percent of HR professionals at medium and large organizations said they relied on certifications during the hiring process, according to CompTIA’s recent Workforce and Learning Trends 2023 report.
