IT professionals who want to get certified in a particular technology while also earning a healthy salary should focus on the cloud or cybersecurity, at least according to the latest information from educational technology company Skillsoft. Released on Thursday September 29th a new report looks at the 15 highest paying IT certifications for 2022citing roles such as AWS Certified Solutions Architect, Certified Information Security Manager, Google Cloud Architect, and Certified Information Systems Security Professional.
TO SEE: AWS Solution Architect Certification Training Bundle (TechRepublic Academy)
The hottest topics in IT certifications
Based on a survey of more than 2,500 IT professionals in the US, the list reveals the highest salaries reported in the tech sector and serves as a handy FYI for employers and employees alike. Your ability to get one of these top salaries requires more than just being certified. Achieving this financial success also depends on your position, professional development, experience and hard work. But the list offers helpful guidelines on what you might want to focus your engineering career on.
The focus on cybersecurity and cloud certifications confirms the trend in the 2021 report in which the same two areas yielded the highest salaries. The 2022 list also details the typical professional who holds each certification, including their average total number of certifications, whether they hold cybersecurity-related certifications, whether they are in management, and their average age.
“This year’s list stands out in the first place for which topics are still hot this year – cloud in the first place, complemented by a number of key cybersecurity and data certifications,” said Michael Yoo, customer market leader at Skillsoft , in the company’s blog post about these findings. “Not surprising, given that nearly every business in every industry of any size in every region relies on cloud computing to drive their technology strategy.”
The highest paying technical certifications
1. AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional
At the top of the list is AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional with a salary of $168,080. In this role you design, implement and support complex Amazon Web Services cloud infrastructure. To achieve this type of certification, AWS recommends two or more years of hands-on experience with a scripting language, as well as skills in Windows, Linux, and various AWS services.
2. Certified Information Security Manager
In second place comes CISM, or Certified Information Security Manager, with a salary of $162,347. In this role you manage, design and assess the information security of a company. To be certified, you must have a certain level of expertise in information security management, information security risk management, information security programs and incident management. To take the exam, you need at least five years of professional experience in several specific fields.
3. Google Cloud Professional Cloud Architect
In third place is Google Cloud Professional Cloud Architect, with a salary of $161,371. To obtain these types of credentials, you must be able to manage the deployment of Google Cloud services, set up infrastructure, and improve processes. Those seeking this certification must also have at least three years of experience with at least one year of designing and managing solutions in Google Cloud.
4. Certified Information Systems Security Professional
Fourth place goes to CISSP, or Certified Information System Security Professional, with a salary of $158,190. This certification is like earning a master’s degree in IT security, according to Skillsoft, because it measures your ability to design, implement, and manage a cybersecurity program. To achieve this, you will need a minimum of five years of relevant work experience in two or more of the CISSP domains, such as security and risk management, security architecture and engineering, identity and access management, security assessment and testing, and software development safety.
5. AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate
It is in fifth place AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate, with a salary of $155,019. This certification is a prerequisite for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional certificate and is intended for cloud architects with experience designing fault-tolerant and cost-efficient systems on AWS. Those who wish to obtain these should be familiar with the Well-designed AWS framework and knows at least the basics of programming; deep coding experience is not necessary.
6. AWS Certified Security Specialty
Next on the list is AWS Certified Security Specialty with a salary of $149,740. It measures your ability to secure data in the AWS cloud and address challenging security vulnerabilities. This certification requires a minimum of five years of experience in an IT security role, of which two years are focused on securing AWS workloads. You should also be familiar with AWS security services, logging and monitoring strategies, cloud security threat models, and security activities and risks.
7. Project management professional
In seventh place is PMP, or Professional project manager, with a salary of $148,290. Project managers help define, organize and handle projects from start to finish. To earn this certification, you must have a four-year college degree, three years of project management experience, and 35 hours of project management training or a CAPM Certification. Those with a high school diploma must have a minimum of five years of experience in addition to project management training or CAPM certification.
8. Nutanix Certified Professional – Multicloud Infrastructure (NCP-MCI)
Eighth place goes to Nutanix Certified Professional – Multicloud Infrastructure (NCP-MCI) with a salary of $147,169. This certification measures your skills in deploying, managing, and troubleshooting Nutanix AOS 5.20 nodes, blocks, and clusters in the Enterprise Cloud, including your ability to use Prism Element to manage AHV hosts and virtual machines.
9. Microsoft Certified Azure Solutions Architect Expert
It is in ninth place Microsoft Certified Azure Solutions Architect Expert, with a salary of $142,975. This IT certification requires you to have advanced experience designing cloud and hybrid solutions on Microsoft Azure. Microsoft also recommends a level of expertise in Azure management and development, DevOps, networking, virtualization, security, and governance.
10. Google Cloud: Digital Leader in the Cloud
And in tenth place Google Cloud: digital leader in the cloud, taking home a salary of $142,707. To earn this technical certification, you must have a working knowledge of Google’s cloud platform and services to support an organization’s cloud-based initiatives. You should also be familiar with areas such as digital transformation with Google Cloud, infrastructure and application modernization, innovating with data and Google Cloud, and Google Cloud security and operations.
Remaining top tech certifications
Rounding out the top 15 are CISA—Certified Information Systems Auditor with a salary of $142,336, AWS certified big data—specialty with an annual salary of $138,403, VMware Certified Professional—Data Center Virtualization (VCP-DCV) with a salary of $138,349, AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner with an annual rate of $135,612, and CCNP Enterprise with a salary of $133,568.
If you are an IT professionals hiring manager, these TechRepublic Premium hiring kits are helpful resources: Cloud Engineer, data scientistCybersecurity Engineer and Project Manager. These recruiting kits include customizable job descriptions, interview questions, and advertisements.
