ITCareerFinder examines salary data and hiring trends to uncover the top-paying IT certifications and why they demand a premium.

This article will be updated annually with the latest credentials and wages.

Do IT certifications really pay off? It depends.

According to the IT Skills and Certifications Pay Index published by analyst firm Foote Partners LLC, tech certifications continued their three-year plunge in value during the third quarter of 2021 and are now at their lowest point since early 2013.

However, there are still some IT certifications that employers are willing to pay extra for.

To ensure that you invest in the training and certifications that offer the highest return on investment, here are this year's highest-paying IT certifications.

• SANS/GIAC Security Expert (GSE)

  The GSE certification is the most prestigious and valuable credential, topping Foote Partners’ recent list of highest-paying certs. However, it’s also among the most difficult to earn.

  With companies everywhere looking for solutions to burgeoning cyber security issues, GSE's rigorous, hands-on exam, lab exam, and experience requirements – covering general security skills, incident handling, intrusion detection, and analysis – sets it apart and makes it particularly valuable for individual contributors said David Foote, Foote Partners’ chief analyst & CRO.

  In fact, employers are willing to pay high salaries and median cash bonuses or premiums equivalent to 13% of base salary to tech workers and leaders who get GSE certified.

  For example, according to Foote Partners’ 2022 IT Professional Salary Survey, the average total cash compensation (including premiums) for certified cyber security specialists is $108,703, while certified senior-level specialists earn $133,161. Meanwhile, PayScale reports that the average salary for GSE-certified information security analysts is $100,000 and $189,000 for penetration testers.

  Before you start spending that extra cash, note that the prerequisite baseline for the GSE is GSEC, GCIH, and GCIA, with two Gold certifications.

• GIAC Exploit Researcher and Advanced Penetration Tester (GXPN)

  Clearly, the demand for penetration testing skills and certifications will remain constant in the future, driven by regulation, compliance, and ongoing business risk, Foote said. That’s why employers are willing to pay median cash bonuses or premiums equivalent to 12% of base salary to professionals who attain the GXPN certification. Moreover, PayScale puts the average salary for GXPN certified IT pros at $107,000.

  The GXPN certifies that network and systems penetration testers, incident handlers, application developers, and IDS engineers have the knowledge, skills, and ability to conduct advanced penetration tests, model the behavior of attackers and improve security in the popular Windows and Linux environments.

  Applicants need to pass a 3-hour proctored exam to earn the highly valuable GXPN.

  Related: Best Pentesting Certifications

• GIAC Security Leadership (GSLC)

  For current information security managers, security professionals with leadership responsibilities, or IT pros looking to move into management, earning the GSLC certification can boost your career and help you score a median cash bonus equivalent to 12% of base salary. The 3-hour proctored exam covers management issues related to the overall security lifecycle, including governance and technical controls, incident response, staff, projects, application security, and more.

  Currently, managers of information security with the GSLC earn average total compensation of $147,080, while lead IT security specialists earn $152,143 and directors of information security earn $200,006 according to the 2022 IT Professional Salary Survey. PayScale puts the average salary at $111,000 with senior leaders earning close to $200,000.

  Best of all, applicants can qualify through a combination of practical work experience, IT training, college courses, or self-study.

• InfoSys Security Architecture Professional (ISSAP/CISSP)

  “With millions of people working from home and connecting to an organization’s internal network remotely, the role of security architect is more important than ever,” Foote said.

  Companies are having to “rearchitect everything” to increase security and reduce the risk of cyber-attacks and data breaches, he expanded.

  It’s no wonder that the CISSP with the architecture extension has increased in value. According to Foote, security architects can command premium pay equal to 12% of base salary and total cash compensation of $130,770, leaving little doubt that the ISSAP certification is a worthwhile investment for professionals who want to build on their expertise in information security architecture.

• InfoSys Security Engineering Professional (ISSEP/CISSP)

  If you have two or more years’ experience in engineering and already hold the CISSP, obtaining your ISSEP certification can lead to greater opportunities and higher wages. This in-demand cert has increased in value by 33% over the last six months and commands average pay premiums of 12% on top of average annual base salaries of $151,000, according to PayScale.

  To sit for the ISSEP examination, you must be a CISSP in good standing and have two years cumulative, paid work experience in one or more of the five domains of the CISSP-ISSEP CBK.

• Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)

  Most IT pros start their journey to ISSEP or ISSAP concentration by earning a valuable core security credential and prerequisite, the CISSP certification. This baseline, vendor-neutral cert – which covers 8 vital domains of information security – can benefit the careers of everyone in IT.

  To illustrate, PayScale lists some 350 job tiles under the CISSP with an average salary of $117,000. If you want to specialize in cyber security, The New York Times reports that there will be 3.5 million unfilled jobs globally by 2021, up from one million positions in 2014.

  Suffice to say, showing employers that you not only understand security concepts, principles, and tools but also the most pertinent issues around cyber security will greatly increase your power at the salary negotiation table.

• Six Sigma Master Black Belt

  Having a Six Sigma Master Black Belt certification signals to employers that you have the skills and knowledge to manage projects successfully, a passion for quality and process improvement, and the ability to lead and coach team members. In fact, because of its focus on improving profitability, many companies are actively recruiting Six Sigma Black Belts, and market demand is higher than ever.

  Speaking of profitability, the market value increase for Six Sigma Master Black Belt certification was 9.1% in the six months through July 1, 2021, and the average total compensation was listed at $169,170 in Foote Partners’ IT Salary Survey.

  Applicants are required to pass an exam, have a minimum of 4 years experience executing Six Sigma Projects in a Black Belt Capacity (or equivalent), and submit a project for review on a pass/fail basis.

• Certified Scrum Master

  Why is Scrum the most popular Agile framework for iterative software development? Because it’s easy to implement and it works. While product owners, project managers, developers, and also trainers and coaches can benefit from certification, the World Economic Forum ranked scrum master 6th in their list of product development jobs of tomorrow. And employment data firm Burning Glass predicts a 37.9-percent increase in demand for scrum masters over the next decade.

  What’s more, according to Foote Partners’ data, certified scrum master certification holders can command 11% in median pay premiums or bonuses above base salaries averaging $96,785.

• PMI Program Management Professional (PgMP)

  How does an experienced and successful project manager take their career to the next level? By becoming a program manager. However, even though program management is a well-paid next step, becoming proficient at managing multiple related projects is not easy.

  Earning PMI's Program Management Professional certification can help you move forward with confidence, demonstrate your competency to prospective employers and earn median pay premiums of 11% above base salaries that range up to $134,000. Plus, both high school and college grads can qualify by meeting the hands-on experience requirements and passing two evaluations.

• CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst (CySA+)

  Data shows that earning CompTIA's intermediate-level CySA+ certification may help you earn more money and elevate your career no matter which role, area of specialization or industry you pursue. For example, InfoSec puts the national median salary for someone with CySA+ certification at $74,952 per year, but as high as $152,806 depending on your location and role.

  Plus, the hands-on, performance-based, and multiple-choice assessment is also approved by the U.S. Department of Defense to fulfill Directive 8570.01-M requirements. This means that earning the CySA+ certificate can help you qualify for sought-after jobs in the state and federal government.

  After validating that you have the skills, techniques, and knowledge to prevent, detect, and combat cyber security threats inside and outside of the organization, employers will reward you with bonuses or premium pay ranging from 8% to 13% of base salary according to Foote Partners.

• Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP)

  With Gartner forecasting that worldwide spending on public cloud services will grow 23.1% in 2021 to total $332.3 billion in the wake of the pandemic, earning the CCSP certification is a great way to show that you know how to secure critical assets in the cloud and earn median annual pay premiums of 11%, regardless of your level or position.

  Although PayScale puts the average salary for CCSP-certified pros at $118,000, the sky’s the limit. IT managers can earn base salaries of $185,000, while CTOs can rake in $250,000 and up.

  While the CCSP isn’t for newcomers, showing commitment to ongoing development can demonstrate your leadership potential to employers and lead to new and exciting career opportunities. Explore the best CCSP bootcamps to learn more about preparing for this lucrative certification.

Final Thoughts

While many IT certifications can enhance your resume and raise your market value, it’s clear that companies are most concerned about advanced persistent threats and protecting valuable data and information. Until supply catches up with demand, earning any one of these cyber security certifications can give you a competitive advantage and the best opportunity to earn high salaries, bonuses, and upward mobility.

Methodology

Our list of the top-paying IT certifications is based on data from the latest Foote Partners’ IT Skills and Certifications Pay Index and the firm’s IT Professional Salary Survey. The reports are based on compensation data provided by 3,805 private and public-sector employers in 83 American and Canadian cities who report pay for over 300,000 technology professionals in the U.S. and Canada.

ITCareerFinder breaks down some of the most sought-after jobs in the metaverse and the skills you need to level up in each position.

This page will be updated regularly with the latest and greatest metaverse career paths.

In October 2021, Facebook changed its name to Meta and announced plans to create 10,000 new high-skilled jobs in the European Union (EU) to help shape the metaverse.

It turns out that Facebook isn’t the only one betting heavily on the growth of the metaverse, over 160 companies are jumping in too.

So what is the metaverse and what types of jobs might it create?

Broadly speaking, the metaverse is a shared virtual world. In theory, people will be able to create an avatar and travel into this immersive virtual world to socialize, play games, work, create, shop, or even remotely attend a concert or sporting event by wearing virtual reality headsets.

Much like the transition to Web 2.0, mobile technologies, and the Internet of Things (IoT) devices, the metaverse is creating new IT and hybrid job opportunities, which require a combination of technical and non-technical skills.

To keep your career thriving in the metaverse, here’s a look at 6 roles that are in demand right now and poised to explode in the future.

As the frequency and severity of cyber attacks continues to rise, organizations are coming face to face with the looming danger of a data breach. However, boosting security budgets is not nearly enough to protect against today's increasingly sophisticated attacks. To truly combat the myriad threats in cyberspace, organizations must hire, train and retain cyber security professionals with the skills needed to stay ahead of the hackers.

Here are five skill sets that information security hiring managers are looking for in 2018, and beyond:

Machine learning (ML), the subset of Artificial Intelligence (AI) that enables computers to “learn” to perform tasks they haven’t been explicitly programmed to do, took huge leaps in 2016.

Basically, machine learning refers to algorithms that ingest huge amounts of data, extract patterns from that data and turn those patterns into actions. It is now being employed in a vast number of industries to improve efficiency and open up new possibilities. When you see an advertisement on a website that seems aligned to your needs and tastes, it’s machine learning doing its magic. When Amazon makes suggestions about what other products you might be interested in buying, a machine learning algorithm is at work behind the scenes. The same goes for your Facebook newsfeed, and countless more every-day examples. ML is also slated to do much more in the future, such as fighting cybercrime and even running beauty contests.

And naturally, as is the case with every technology that starts to gain traction and become widely adopted, machine learning is creating a ton of IT job opportunities, especially for machine learning engineers. The average salary for AI and machine learning talent is north of $100K, and in some cases on par with NFL quarterbacks.

Here are the skills needed to begin and advance your machine learning career path:

IT pros want new jobs!

One-third of IT professionals will be chasing new jobs in 2018, per Spiceworks' 2018 IT Career Outlook, with higher salaries and skills advancement being their chief motivations. With the IT talent gap widening and demand for qualified candidates going strong, the job market looks promising for IT pros with the right combination of skills.

ITCareerFinder presents 2018's top ten IT jobs, along with the skills and certifications you need to secure a lucrative post in each role. (CIO.com's "The 7 most in-demand tech jobs for 2018 — and how to hire for them" is the source for most of these picks, with exceptions noted.)

These are the top 10 technical positions that hiring managers will be looking to fill in 2018:

ITCareerFinder breaks down the latest employment and wage data and speaks with technology executives to identify the hottest skill sets of 2021 (and beyond).

Possessing the right combination of technical expertise, soft skills and practical experience can help you impress potential employers and land a high-paying job in one of the fastest growing fields in information technology.

In fact, according to PayScale’s data team, knowledge of high-demand technologies and key fundamentals boosts compensation by 14% to 26%.

If you’re looking to advance your career by acquiring new skills or certifications, here are ten of the hottest areas of technology you may want to consider and the best skills to learn in each:

Software developer, Md Akhtar Hossain, compares 3 of the leading cross-platform mobile development frameworks: Xamarin, React Native & Flutter. His analysis features an in-depth look at pros and cons, industry trends, major adopters, and training options for each tool.

Xamarin, React Native, and Flutter are some of the best frameworks out there for cross-platform mobile application development. These tools save you a lot of time as they let you build apps for multiple mobile operating systems - such as Android and iOS - using just one codebase. Obviously, you need to make some additional adjustments for each platform, but these frameworks let you reuse code to a great extent for cross-platform development, drastically increasing your efficiency and ROI.

But which one of these 3 tools is the right fit for you? This post will provide a concise breakdown of these popular mobile app development frameworks to help you choose.

Ian Clark, Head of Americas at cloud staffing firm Frank Recruitment Group, breaks down the key reasons IT professionals are moving to The Windy City.

When you think of the world’s great tech cities, Chicago may not always be top of your mind, but its transformation over the last decade makes it impossible to omit from any discussion about the best American cities for IT professionals.

The global skills gap in technology means that professionals hold most of the cards when it comes to choosing how and where their career pans out, but Chicago has a lot to offer to make sure people want to be there.

Of course, there must be opportunity, and there’s plenty of that. Tech giants such as Google, LinkedIn and Salesforce all have offices in the city, which is partly why CompTIA named Chicago as one of the largest tech employers in the US last year.

Here are the top three reasons tech professionals are packing an extra layer and heading to the Jewel of the Midwest: