Ongoing professional development is a must for advancing any career, and that goes double for IT professionals. According to Spiceworks Ziff Davis' 2024 State of IT Report, 63% of hiring managers at the director level and above said finding and hiring skilled IT talent was difficult. That's why, if you want to make the leap to a higher-paying role, it's important not just to acquire new skills; you must also prove to your prospective employer that you have them. Professional certification is a proven way to do just that.
Each year, online technology learning company Skillsoft surveys IT pros to see what certifications they've earned and how their answers match their salaries. Although it's likely that some survey respondents have earned more than one certification, clear trends emerge from the aggregate data indicating that a few certs offer more payday power than others.
We note some further observations, too. Like last year, this year's survey produced a list of high-paying certifications heavy on cloud computing. While last year's list favored Amazon Web Services (AWS), the pendulum has swung toward Google Cloud this year. Notably absent are Microsoft Azure and Nutanix, which held ninth and eighth place last year. However, the most eyebrow-raising result was the meteoric rise of this year's first-place certification.
(Note: Spiceworks is owned by Ziff Davis, PCMag.com's parent company.)
10. CISSP - Certified Information Systems Security Professional ($156,699 per year average salary)
This certification program was developed by the International Information System Security Certification Consortium, known as (ISC)², and is generally one of the most sought-after security certifications. Upon completing it, you'll demonstrate that you're capable of guiding the security aspects of an IT organization's overall architecture, controls, and management.
Be aware that you'll need five years of real-world experience to pass the exam, and you must accrue continuing education credits each year to maintain your credential. These tough requirements are one reason why this certification is so highly sought-after by employers.
They're also why we were a little surprised to see the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) program drop so far on this year's list. It's the only cert to see its average salary decrease. Although certificate holders reported an average salary that's approximately 1% less than last year, $156,699 is nothing to sneeze at.
9. AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate ($160,052)
The AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate program proves that you have hands-on experience with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and are used to architecting large-scale, distributed systems. AWS recommends at least a year of hands-on experience designing systems on AWS before tackling the exam, which takes around 80 minutes.
However, this certification has declined in its ranking for the third year in a row, falling from fifth place last year. Thankfully, that's not due to pay decreases, as the average salary this cert commands this year is $160,052 (just over 3% compared with last year). Still, other AWS certification programs pay better, most notably the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional certificate (described below), which came in fourth place this year. If you're dedicated to maximizing your AWS knowledge, that might be the certification to chase. On average, it earns its holders $14,085 more than this one.
8. Google Cloud - Associate Cloud Engineer ($161,075)
The Google Cloud - Associate Cloud Engineer certificate is new to the list this year, and it's the first of four high-earning Google Cloud certifications you'll find on this list, compared with AWS' three. (The numbers were reversed in last year's survey.)
Of the four Google certs, this is both the most broad-based and the most entry-level. Compared with some certificates that require years of real-world experience in a field, Google recommends just six months' experience with its cloud platform before applying for Associate Cloud Engineer certification, but it's not a prerequisite.
The exam assesses your ability to plan, set up, configure, implement, and deploy IT solutions on the Google Cloud platform using both the console tools and the command line. If you make the grade, you'll not only prove that you have the many skills needed to work with Google Cloud, but you can expect to command an average salary of $161,075.
7. Google Cloud – Professional Cloud Database Engineer ($163,193)
Another new entrant is the Google Cloud – Professional Cloud Database Engineer certificate. It's another of the four Google Cloud certifications on this list, and it focuses specifically on databases and how to deploy and manage them on Google's platform. As it turns out, that's not as easy as it sounds. To take the exam, you need two years of Google Cloud experience and five years of overall IT and database experience (although these can overlap).
To earn the certificate, you must demonstrate the ability to design and deploy scalable and highly available database solutions on Google Cloud. In addition, you must know how to migrate existing databases to the platform, as well as manage solutions that span multiple databases. It's a tall order, but earning the cert opens the door to a $163,193 average salary. Note that this cert should not be confused with the Google Cloud – Professional Data Engineer certificate, detailed below.
(Credit: gilaxia / Getty Images)6. AWS Certified Security – Specialty ($166,449)
Cloud infrastructure comes with unique security concerns, and AWS wants to ensure that Security Architects know the ins and outs of its platform. To that end, the AWS Certified Security – Specialty certification combines elements of cloud computing and security best practices.
To pass the exam, you need expertise in security features specific to the AWS environment, including its shared responsibility model, security controls, and logging and monitoring strategies. You'll also want to know how to secure AWS workloads using third-party tools, such as backup systems, encryption, and identity management.
As with the CISSP cert, you'll want five years of real-world experience before taking the exam, with two years specific to securing AWS workloads. However, AWS says this is a recommendation rather than a requirement. On the plus side, if you can manage all of the prerequisites and pass the exam, you can expect an average salary of $166,449, an 11% increase from last year.
5. CISM – Certified Information Security Manager ($167,396)
The Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) certification is one of the more prominent credentials in the security realm, along with CISSP. It's a general business security certification, meaning it demonstrates proficiency in security best practices beyond just IT. Because of that, pros who earn this cert should expect to meet face-to-face with stakeholders in various roles from multiple lines of business and work to build a holistic security strategy for their organizations.
Although CISM was once the highest-paying certification on the list, it has since bobbed up and down in its ranking. Last year, it came in second place, but this year, it's back down to fifth. However, it's still a solid earner for certificate holders, netting them an average salary of $167,396, up 3% from 2023's survey.
4. AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional ($174,137)
The AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional certificate is a step up from the Associate cert mentioned above, and it's widely considered the gold standard for engineers who want to design and deploy architecture on Amazon's public cloud. Employers can be confident that certificate holders have advanced knowledge of AWS tools and procedures.
To pass the exam, you need deep familiarity with AWS best practices and tools, including consoles, APIs, and the command line. To demonstrate proficiency, you must know at least one scripting language, be familiar with Linux and Windows, and be prepared to provide design and deployment guidance that aligns with business objectives.
Once you earn the certificate, your efforts will be rewarded. Holders of the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional certificate earn around $14,000 more than Associate certificate holders, with an average salary of $174,137. Incidentally, that's almost 4% more than Professional certificate holders earned in last year's survey.
3. PMP: Project Management Professional ($176,116)
The PMP: Project Management Professional certification is a perennial high performer on the list, and with good reason. IT managers who earn the certificate consistently command some of the highest salaries in the industry, and they can expect to make even more in 2024 than in previous years.
Created and administered by the Project Management Institute (PMI), the PMP certification is one of the most recognized project management accreditations available today. A certificate demonstrates that you are fully proficient in all aspects of project management, including juggling teams, goals, and budgets. The exam covers the five basic lifecycle steps inherent to any project: initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing.
Now, the bad news: Earning this certification can take a long time. Before you can be certified, you'll need to have 4,500 hours of project management experience, the equivalent of two years of 40-hour weeks. And if you lack a Bachelor's degree, you can double that to 7,500 hours.
The good news is that earning a PMP certification can really pay off. According to this year's survey results, you can expect an average salary of $176,116, an impressive 19% increase over 2023's results.
2. Google Cloud – Professional Data Engineer ($193,621)
One of the more esoteric certifications on this year's list, the Google Cloud – Professional Data Engineer program aims to arm data engineers, scientists, and other specialists with the skills they need to operate data processing workloads on Google's cloud platform. Among them are the ability to design, build, deploy, monitor, maintain, and secure data processing solutions.
The exam will assess your ability to ingest and store data in Google Cloud, prepare it for analysis, and maintain and operate data workloads. Other topics include data governance and mapping current and future business requirements to the architecture. You must know key data security and compliance principles, including encryption, data sovereignty, fault tolerance, and disaster recovery.
This certification is new to the list this year, so we don't have an average salary from last year to compare. However, rest assured that Professional Data Engineers are well-paid, as they can expect an average annual salary of $193,621, going into 2024.
1. Google Cloud – Professional Cloud Architect ($200,960)
The biggest mover in this year's list is the Google Cloud – Professional Cloud Architect certification, which jumped from third place to first in this year's results. If that doesn't sound like much of a change, consider that the average compensation for qualified certificate holders rocketed up to $200,960, a dramatic year-over-year increase of 25%. Doubtless, this gain reflects growing interest in the Google Cloud Platform (GCP), which has historically seen a slower adoption rate than AWS.
Google's Professional Cloud Architect program certifies an applicant's deep knowledge of the ins and outs of GCP. To pass the exam, you must demonstrate the ability to design, develop, and manage resources residing on Google's cloud architecture using APIs and technologies specific to GCP, while addressing various common cloud computing scenarios.
As was the case with last year's survey, we expect cloud computing-based certifications to continue to dominate, particularly as the various public clouds add support for new technologies, such as generative artificial intelligence (AI).
How to Find Online Certification Training Courses
As a technology skills learning company, Skillsoft offers online exam prep courses for all of the certifications on its list, but there are other options. Online learning has exploded in recent years, and sources run the gamut from university-sponsored learning tracks to courses provided in partnership with technology companies, such as Amazon, IBM, and Microsoft. We're also seeing the rise of video-based learning platforms like Skillshare. We've listed some of the most popular below, but you should shop carefully because prices and training quality can vary greatly:
Coursera is an online learning platform boasting over 4,400 courses, many of which are affiliated with over 200 universities and companies. In addition, more than 6,000 campuses use Coursera for online learning of accredited and non-accredited IT-focused courses. Although any participant can earn industry credentials for non-degree work, you can earn college accreditation only if you are working toward a degree.
edX is a learning destination founded by Harvard and MIT. It currently reports 35 million users on its platform and offers over 3,000 online courses from more than 160 institutions, including tech giants like Amazon and Google. Some areas of concentration at edX include a Professional Certificate in IT Project Management from the University of Washington. In addition, in response to the coronavirus pandemic, edX created the edX Online Campus so that any university across the globe can offer on-demand learning for students, alums, and employees.
LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda.com) is another massive on-the-job learning portal. It has more than 16,000 courses, and many of them are focused on tech and taught by real-world professionals. Certifications are available for IT courses, but they usually cost extra, and not all are accredited. LinkedIn leverages its professional network to create course recommendations tailored to users' career tracks, and the courses can be accessed by PC or smartphone.
Udemy is a colossal online learning platform with a staggering 183,000 video courses on a wide range of subjects. Udemy is popular because it often offers significant discounts on training, which makes it one of the more affordable options for online learning. That said, Udemy enables unaccredited instructors to sell courses for profit. That can diminish its credibility for academic and certification tracks. Additionally, while it has many resources for learning programming languages, IT pros should shop cautiously when training for accredited certifications.
Shop wisely when selecting one of these services. Choosing the cheapest course on a given subject might seem like the best option, but you often get what you pay for. To help you make the best decision, remember that several companies offer free trial courses or trial periods. We've found it's worth the effort to explore your online school this way before you commit. Reviews from former students are another vital resource that some vendors provide, as they can help you gauge a course's effectiveness for your particular certification needs.