The 2008 CertMag Salary Survey Is Open

You've read about salary surveys, now participate in one as a certified IT professional: http://network.certmag.com/forum/topic/show?id=2210502%3ATopic%3A663

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Comments

dynamik

Yes! Time to bring down the average for MCSE!

networker050184

dynamik wrote:

Yes! Time to bring down the average for MCSE!

I have never done one of these in the past. I guess its time to stop hating these and actually contribute something. I will probably be one of the people bringing up the average salary of someone with just a CCNA which is what I don't like about these to begin with. Until they start tracking experience levels also these things will be too broad to be worth anything.

networker050184

I just took the survey and it asked a lot more questions than I expected.

I was quite surprised by the the question that asked what material you found most helpful on your last exam and one of the options was brain **** from a website.

jbaello

I stopped the survey it was sooo long, I might continue tonite :P

TechJunky

I completed the survey.

royal

Only took 5 minutes to do.

empc4000xl

did mine.

undomiel

Site down for maintenance so I can't help bring down the MCSE salary as well.

gojericho0

Does anyone know what the minimum score is to pass? If you have any braindumps for this link please PM me

Daniel333

Is it just me or did they totally ignore the new certifications from Microsoft?

JDMurray

I don't think much of these salary surveys. A person that makes $100K/year and happens to have an entry-level cert (A+ or CCNA) will really play Hell with the averages. I also don't think it's valid unless the geographical location of where you are employed is part of the questions.

And yes, there were none of the newer MS certs listed.

astorrs

JDMurray wrote:

I don't think much of these salary surveys. A person that makes $100K/year and happens to have an entry-level cert (A+ or CCNA) will really play Hell with the averages. I also don't think it's valid unless the geographical location of where you are employed is part of the questions.

And yes, there were none of the newer MS certs listed.

+1 last year I destroyed the certified vs. non-certified professionals salary/certs comparrison. This year I helped the certified bunch. That combined with the fact I upped my rates at the begining of the year by 25% implies that I got a raise (which I guess I did, but it was self-given and the first time in over 3 years I've touched them) seems to imply that the certs helped with that - when in fact they had nothing to do with it.

Megadeth4168

JDMurray wrote:

I don't think much of these salary surveys. A person that makes $100K/year and happens to have an entry-level cert (A+ or CCNA) will really play Hell with the averages. I also don't think it's valid unless the geographical location of where you are employed is part of the questions.

And yes, there were none of the newer MS certs listed.

Are benefits averaged in on these things typically? If so, you could say that I make about 50% more than I do, since my jobs pays all my benefits.

hypnotoad

I'm convinced those things are always high because the advertisements for the sites are to "gain such-and-such degree in X months and make lots more money!"

Nobody's gonna click on those ads if you tell them they already make enough money

darkerosxx

JDMurray wrote:

And yes, there were none of the newer MS certs listed.

MCTS and MCITP were listed.

undomiel

Finally worked for me so I did my part for making the MCSE look worthless.

JDMurray

astorrs wrote:

+1 last year I destroyed the certified vs. non-certified professionals salary/certs comparrison. This year I helped the certified bunch. That combined with the fact I upped my rates at the begining of the year by 25% implies that I got a raise (which I guess I did, but it was self-given and the first time in over 3 years I've touched them) seems to imply that the certs helped with that - when in fact they had nothing to do with it.

I have a 25% increase over last year too, but it's because I finished my degree and not because of any certs that I have. On the survey, there was no way to indicate the effects of "education versus certification" on salary.

Megadeth4168 wrote:

Are benefits averaged in on these things typically? If so, you could say that I make about 50% more than I do, since my jobs pays all my benefits.

I think it's pure salary and bonuses. That's what I remember from the survey.

darkerosxx wrote:

JDMurray wrote:

And yes, there were none of the newer MS certs listed.

MCTS and MCITP were listed.

No, the MCA. The new new MS cert. MCTS and MCITP have been around for a while now.

undomiel

The survey did ask me what benefits I get so it may be factored.

dynamik

I thought the MCA was out before the MCTS and the MCITP. Maybe I just heard about it first. The Masters-level is the newest one. I don't think it really matters though. Only a very few number of people will be Architects or Masters anyway.

darkerosxx

Yeah, MCA was out before MCTS/ITP. I haven't seen an exact number, but from MS's site, there are at least 160 MCA's.

cbigbrick

They also letf out a bunch of SANS certifications!!!

JDMurray

undomiel wrote:

The survey did ask me what benefits I get so it may be factored.

There were no quantified questions indicating how much extra income is derived from benefits, just what benefits packages you have.

JDMurray

cbigbrick wrote:

They also letf out a bunch of SANS certifications!!!

Yeah, considering how many SAP certs they listed, it seems odd that only 12 SANS certs made the list.

And I just noticed that the Microsoft Certified Architect is listed, but there's no "(MCA)" after it.

GT-Rob

I did the survey. I agree that it can get a little inaccurate. According to this survey, I got my CCNP and doubled my salary. When in reality, I doubled my salary because I moved to a richer economy, and got a job that only required CCNA.

snadam

yay, I filled it. Although its skewed because of my current job situation...

Megadeth4168

snadam wrote:

yay, I filled it. Although its skewed because of my current job situation...

I think I skewed it... MCSE with 8 years experience making 42K.... I'm still waiting to hear back on the raise I asked for though.

Claymoore

JDMurray wrote:

cbigbrick wrote:

They also letf out a bunch of SANS certifications!!!

Yeah, considering how many SAP certs they listed, it seems odd that only 12 SANS certs made the list.

No kidding - was SAP sponsoring the survey? I didn't even know they had that many certifications.