VMware Certified Professionals command higher salaries, report shows
It’s been six months since I posted about the value of the VMware Certified Professional (VCP) certificate, and I thought I’d provide an update.
As the image shows, courtesy of indeed.com, the VCP is as hot as ever.
Since I last covered this topic, the following shifts occured:
- The VCP gained $3,000
- The A+ climbed $6,000
- Network+ declined $1,000
- MCP gained $1,000
- MCSE gained $2,000
- CCA lost $2,000
- CCEA picked up $2,000
- RHCT picked up $3,000
- RHCE picked up$2,000
- RHCA lost $1,000
The big gain in VCP salaries over a period of less than six months shows that this technology is still very much an in-demand skill set and a hot certification to show off. It’s a new year and salaries did jump overall, so this is reflected in the data. As before, the international trend is also continuing, as the next two images (from itjobswatch.co.uk) show, in terms of salary and demand.
I intend to keep tracking these statistics every few quarters, so stay tuned. I’m also keeping my eye out for Citrix-sponsored Xen certifications and will be bringing an analysis of those to the blogosphere as soon as there’s some quantifiable information available. And with VMware ramping up its certification programs, I expect to be adding second and third-tier VMware certifications.
What other certifications do you think should be compared? I’ve included a broad list of non-developer certs to show the variety and range in entry-level (MCP, A+) system admin certs through top-tier (CCEA, RHCA) certs to compare the VCP’s placement as a hot-technology. I’ve left off network, storage and many specialty certs because they may not be pervasive enough in the enterprise or may not be relevent topically. Since I’m one person with one view, I hope our readers will comment below and dictate to me what should be compared. So please fire away.
Posted: April 21st, 2008 under Virtualization, VMware, Joseph Foran.
5 Comments »
I can recall when the same analysis started to be reported about the “value” of the MCSE certification. What is missing from any of these charts is the average income of the same person before and after they achieve the certification. Any gain in average income could easily be accounted for by highly experienced (and paid) industry veterans gaining the cert.
Comment by LarryP — April 21, 2008 @ 4:52 pm
I think it ties into staying on top of your career path to remain competitive among other applicants if you apply for a new job — if applicant one has VCP certification, but other than that has the same credentials as applicant two, a company is most likely going to go with applicant one. Joe Foran and I chatted about this when I interviewed him about the value of the VCP– check it out here:
http://searchvmware.techtarget.com/news/article/0,289142,sid179_gci1277567,00.html#
Comment by Hannah Drake — April 22, 2008 @ 9:28 am
Hi Larry - That’s a good observation (and I think it explains the large initial spike in the British chart from 2005/2006). What I think counters that somewhat is that across the charts, all of the certifications are treated equally with regards to experience levels and existing salary. Somebody with lots of experience going into the CCEA level program, or the RHCA program, is going to have the same impact on the overall numbers as somebody going to get their VPC.
Comment by Joe Foran — April 23, 2008 @ 7:58 am
Most of the industry certifications do not require a $1k class to get certified like VCP does. I am all for keeping current with technology and certification but a self study path to certifications should be an option.
Comment by Rich — April 23, 2008 @ 8:53 am
Thanks for the statistics… It is a well known fact in the IT job industry that updating your knowledge through a plethora of IT certifications helps you in commanding a higher salary from your employer.
Comment by IT Training — June 20, 2008 @ 2:31 am