IT Certifications and Careers (Official Discussion Thread)

[DaRealness]

I don't know if I believe this list because who gives a shyt about Google cloud? Why no OSCP or SANS cybersecurity certs?

The 15 top-paying certifications of 2020

The 15 most valuable IT certifications today
Looking for a leg up in your IT career? Here are the most valuable IT certifications you can earn to boost your salary in 2020.

By Sarah K. White
Senior Writer, CIO
JUL 3, 2020 3:00 AM PT

Certifications and skills can boost your salary, set you apart from the competition and help you land promotions in your current role. According to the Global Knowledge 2019 IT Skills and Salary Report, the average IT professional in North America earns $109,985 per year, which is 27 percent higher than the average salary in the U.S.

Over 85 percent of IT professionals hold a certification and 66 percent say they plan to obtain a new certification this year, according to the report. The average IT salary increases with each certification earned. IT professionals with one certification earn an average salary of $106,780 per year, while those with six or more report an average of $117,212 per year. This year, cloud computing and security take center stage as some of the highest-earning certifications on the list.

The 15 most valuable certifications for 2020

• 
  
  
  • Google Certified Professional (GCP) Cloud Architect
  • AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate
  • Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)
  • Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC)
  • Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
  • Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA)
  • AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
  • VMware Certified Professional 6 – Data Center Virtualization (VCP6-DCV)
  • Project Management Professional (PMP)
  • ITIL Foundation
  • Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals
  • Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate
  • Citrix Certified Associate – Networking (CCA-N)
  • CCNP Enterprise Certification (formerly CCNP Routing and Switching)
  • Citrix Certified Professional – Virtualization (CCP-V)

For the UK posters:

The 15 highest paying IT certifications - Venturi Group

Regardless of the market sector or company type you work for, having the right combination of certifications to your name provides some concrete validation of your technical skills and knowledge.
But as you are probably aware, the most valuable certifications aren’t cheap. The combined costs of study materials, training sessions, classes, and exam fees add up quickly. On top of the financial investment, you also need to devote a significant amount of time to the process. There’s no point spending all that money only to flunk the exam.


When viewing certifications as an investment in your career and future, it makes logical sense to focus your attention on those that will benefit you the most. You most likely want a certification that will deliver a significant ROI.



With that in mind, this article lists the top five highest paying IT certifications. The salary information listed in this piece was provided by Global Knowledge, a business and IT skills training provider. The original data came from US and Canadian workers. But based on the roles we recruit for at Venturi, the salary estimates are also a close match for IT professionals in the UK and Europe.



Average salaries were calculated based on what current Global Knowledge customers are studying and the kind of work they move on to when they graduate. If you are interested in any of the certifications below then Global Knowledge’s website is a great place to go for further information and resources to help get you get certified. Here are the twenty highest paying certifications:

1. Project Management Professional (PMP) – £84,567
2. Certified Information Systems Security Professional – £86,135
3. AWS Certified Solutions Architect – £88,514
4. Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) – £90,640
5. Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control – £92,906
6. Google Certified Professional Cloud Architect – £115,581
7. Certified ScrumMaster® – £112,195
8. AWS Certified Developer – Associate – £107,993
9. Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE): Server Infrastructure – £100,471
10. ITIL® Foundation – £99,873
11. CEH – Certified Ethical Hacker – £96,344
12. Citrix Certified Associate – Virtualization (CCA-V) – £93,971
13. CompTIA Security+ – £91,386
14. CompTIA Network+ – £88,753
15. Cisco Certified Networking Professional (CCNP) Routing and Switching – £88,599

 

[calixprynce]

Any brehs have any recommendations on labs I can buy so I can replicate with actual hardware or PacketTracer?

 

[King45]

Any brehs have any recommendations on labs I can buy so I can replicate with actual hardware or PacketTracer?

If you're looking to buy labs, you can look at: Courses

 

[calixprynce]

If you're looking to buy labs, you can look at: Courses

eat breh, smh cant believe i already forgot about testout. here this shyt was piff . thanks breh

 

[Rhyme n Tekniq]

Anyone using GlassDoor.com to gauge their salary expectations.... DONT!!!

There salary data reports are extremely low all of a sudden, For example, System Admins, Engineers and even software engineers all have really low pay compared to what's real

There's some funny style shyt going on with Glassdoor

Last July, most of their salary listings for sys admins ranged from 78K to 98K across multple companies (I save all that shyt to PDF), System Engineers were like 95K- 135K

Now a whole year later, all the sysadmin jobs are showing 55K to 66K, with maybe a few outliers being in the 70K range, Engineers arent much higher in salary

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I know Devops and Site Reliability is all the rage right now, but sys admins arent obsolete like these tech enthusiast would want you to believe, Most of them in some form have a pipeline and financial incentive with these companies who push their latest technology as the savior and future of IT. In reality, Whether it's a small business or large enterprise IT environment, These companies are slow to change and adopt new technologies on the fly, Companies cant just gut their entire infrastructure because of some new hot tech solution that promises seamless integration and automation. Traditional Desktop Engineers, Sys Admins and Sys Engineers are still needed and the money is still there if you have the skills.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I deviated slightly, but the point is , when I saw how close these different levels of IT were in salary, especially on the low side, I have to call bullshyt because well....It is bullshyt.

My suspicions are pretty much confirmed,

I think there's some effort to manipulate the market in HR people's favor and to get job seekers to low-ball themselves in salary negotiations. Do not trust Glassdoor my g's. Between the beginning of the year and now, Their salary data has switched up almost over night with no real rhyme or reason behind it to reflect these painfully low salaries. No slow gradual trends, just sudden , starks contrasts in salary data.

Think i'm tripping, Check this article, that basically highlights that fact,
It's from 2018, but that just lets me know they have a history of this shyt

Ask The Headhunter® | Glassdoor Salary Data: Worse than useless

 

[JT-Money]

Anyone using GlassDoor.com to gauge their salary expectations.... DONT!!!

There salary data reports are extremely low all of a sudden, For example, System Admins, Engineers and even software engineers all have really low pay compared to what's real

There's some funny style shyt going on with Glassdoor

Last July, most of their salary listings for sys admins ranged from 78K to 98K across multple companies (I save all that shyt to PDF), System Engineers were like 95K- 135K

Now a whole year later, all the sysadmin jobs are showing 55K to 66K, with maybe a few outliers being in the 70K range, Engineers arent much higher in salary

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I know Devops and Site Reliability is all the rage right now, but sys admins arent obsolete like these tech enthusiast would want you to believe, Most of them in some form have a pipeline and financial incentive with these companies who push their latest technology as the savior and future of IT. In reality, Whether it's a small business or large enterprise IT environment, These companies are slow to change and adopt new technologies on the fly, Companies cant just gut their entire infrastructure because of some new hot tech solution that promises seamless integration and automation. Traditional Desktop Engineers, Sys Admins and Sys Engineers are still needed and the money is still there if you have the skills.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I deviated slightly, but the point is , when I saw how close these different levels of IT were in salary, especially on the low side, I have to call bullshyt because well....It is bullshyt.

My suspicions are pretty much confirmed,

I think there's some effort to manipulate the market in HR people's favor and to get job seekers to low-ball themselves in salary negotiations. Do not trust Glassdoor my g's. Between the beginning of the year and now, Their salary data has switched up almost over night with no real rhyme or reason behind it to reflect these painfully low salaries. No slow gradual trends, just sudden , starks contrasts in salary data.

Think i'm tripping, Check this article, that basically highlights that fact,
It's from 2018, but that just lets me know they have a history of this shyt

Ask The Headhunter® | Glassdoor Salary Data: Worse than useless

Companies have been colluding for years to keep salaries down. Most have this survey they do between one another. I forgot what it's called but they get together and compare salaries with each other for similar positions. This happened to me at 2 different employers where they had to go back and give everyone pay increases. Because they had been lowballing everyone for years.

Believe it or not most job offers are based on your previous salary. So it's best not to tell them how much you made at your old job. Just lie about it because they won't go back and do the research anyway.

 

[Regine Hunter]

If any of y’all want my Sec+ reading materials and notes, just shoot me a pm for a reminder, I got you.

fukked up and missed the free voucher opportunity for servicenow. It’s still my next cert, just gotta do some extra side hustling to pay for it. It’s 300 USD which is about $410 for me. Should be able to earn that in a weekend.

Comptia got the new beta Cloud+ going for $50. Cant beat that price, might as well cop that stackable while shyt cheap might just cop it to do in the fall while I focus on AWS next month

 

[calixprynce]

If any of y’all want my Sec+ reading materials and notes, just shoot me a pm for a reminder, I got you.

fukked up and missed the free voucher opportunity for servicenow. It’s still my next cert, just gotta do some extra side hustling to pay for it. It’s 300 USD which is about $410 for me. Should be able to earn that in a weekend.

Comptia got the new beta Cloud+ going for $50. Cant beat that price, might as well cop that stackable while shyt cheap might just cop it to do in the fall while I focus on AWS next month

Sec+ is mainly good for government jobs right? Don't you need clearance for those? I think im fucced on that route cuz i got hella juvenile felonies

 

[Regine Hunter]

Sec+ is mainly good for government jobs right? Don't you need clearance for those? I think im fucced on that route cuz i got hella juvenile felonies

Not exactly, you could find work in the private sector. Is there any way you could get any of those felonies expunged? May be costly, but might help in the long run

 

[bnew]

what cert can i work on getting immediately that'd get me a remote job by september?

 

[bnew]

Ii got a A+ cert 15 years ago, do i need to take the test again?

 

[DaRealness]

Anyone using GlassDoor.com to gauge their salary expectations.... DONT!!!

There salary data reports are extremely low all of a sudden, For example, System Admins, Engineers and even software engineers all have really low pay compared to what's real

There's some funny style shyt going on with Glassdoor

Last July, most of their salary listings for sys admins ranged from 78K to 98K across multple companies (I save all that shyt to PDF), System Engineers were like 95K- 135K

Now a whole year later, all the sysadmin jobs are showing 55K to 66K, with maybe a few outliers being in the 70K range, Engineers arent much higher in salary

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I know Devops and Site Reliability is all the rage right now, but sys admins arent obsolete like these tech enthusiast would want you to believe, Most of them in some form have a pipeline and financial incentive with these companies who push their latest technology as the savior and future of IT. In reality, Whether it's a small business or large enterprise IT environment, These companies are slow to change and adopt new technologies on the fly, Companies cant just gut their entire infrastructure because of some new hot tech solution that promises seamless integration and automation. Traditional Desktop Engineers, Sys Admins and Sys Engineers are still needed and the money is still there if you have the skills.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I deviated slightly, but the point is , when I saw how close these different levels of IT were in salary, especially on the low side, I have to call bullshyt because well....It is bullshyt.

My suspicions are pretty much confirmed,

I think there's some effort to manipulate the market in HR people's favor and to get job seekers to low-ball themselves in salary negotiations. Do not trust Glassdoor my g's. Between the beginning of the year and now, Their salary data has switched up almost over night with no real rhyme or reason behind it to reflect these painfully low salaries. No slow gradual trends, just sudden , starks contrasts in salary data.

Think i'm tripping, Check this article, that basically highlights that fact,
It's from 2018, but that just lets me know they have a history of this shyt

Ask The Headhunter® | Glassdoor Salary Data: Worse than useless

I only check out Glassdoor for the company reviews anyway. There are much better and way more accurate sites for viewing salaries.

 

[calixprynce]

Not exactly, you could find work in the private sector. Is there any way you could get any of those felonies expunged? May be costly, but might help in the long run

i dont think so . i know for sure one of them is a 707B offense in Cali, so it cant be expunged. But none of my juvenile shyt pop up on regular job background searches, i wonder if private sector is different

edit : I just found this

707(b) offenses
There are 29 offenses listed under California Welfare and Institutions Code § 707(b) that are considered serious or violent in nature. If a person commits one of these offenses at age 14 or older, he or she will no longer be eligible to seal his or her juvenile record.

and even if i could :

All juvenile records must be reported even though sealed when applying for a security clearance or employment with a private company that engages in business with the Federal Government.

 

[slikkp]

i dont think so . i know for sure one of them is a 707B offense in Cali, so it cant be expunged. But none of my juvenile shyt pop up on regular job background searches, i wonder if private sector is different

edit : I just found this

707(b) offenses
There are 29 offenses listed under California Welfare and Institutions Code § 707(b) that are considered serious or violent in nature. If a person commits one of these offenses at age 14 or older, he or she will no longer be eligible to seal his or her juvenile record.

and even if i could :

All juvenile records must be reported even though sealed when applying for a security clearance or employment with a private company that engages in business with the Federal Government.

How old are the charges? For the federal jobs requiring clearances, they only go back a set number of years, like 7 or 10, for most things.

I'd say download the sf85/sf86 and look at the questions. I had my share of juvenile shyt too but I'm 35 now and haven't had any problems getting federal jobs.

 

[se1f_made]

Finished Ben Piper's AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner book

The one service that stood out to me (that I'll probably never use) is AWS Snowball What a juggernaut

My department has had to complete the transaction for a few snowballs this year...cool stuff but my potna has had to process this before and it takes a lot of coordination if you’re not the one moving the data