15 Top Paying Certifications for 2013

the_hutch

boredgamelad wrote: »

Actually, that's unlikely. Even if they surveyed only 50 people whose average came out to 103,000, factoring in your 40k would lower the average to just over 101,700.

Yes...I realize this. It was an exaggeration for the sake of emphasizing my dissatisfaction with my current salary.

emerald_octane

Associate of ISC2 toward CISSP, $62k. I don't think it would change if it were full blown.

the_hutch

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That's to be expected with limited security experience (which I think is safe to assume based on your Associate status).

ptilsen

Indeed. With legitimately meeting the requirement and passing the test, it is hard to imagine many CISSPs making less than $70K in any US market, and I do believe the average being upwards of six figures. Besides, it is an average. Assuming their data is fairly representative of CISSPs in the US, then there are going to have to be people in the $40-$80 range to average around $100, because we know there are plenty in the $120+ range.

Claymoore

the_hutch wrote: »

Then there are us lowly mortals who pay what little money we have to put ourselves through the courses/exams so that we can dream. And so that we can sigh and go pop some prozac when inconsiderate ***holes post articles like this...

Well, I have spent years and plenty of my own money pursuing certifications, yet none of the certifications I have are even on the list. It would be depressing except that my salary isn't on the list either.

blargoe

How is MCDBA, which is a SQL 2000 cert, in more demand than MCITP:DBA, which is for 2005/2008? What a crock.

boredgamelad

the_hutch wrote: »

Yes...I realize this. It was an exaggeration for the sake of emphasizing my dissatisfaction with my current salary.

Oh I know, I was just giving you a hard time. I understand your frustration.

Humbe

I wonder if those numbers were pulled from...

Here in South Florida is very rare to pay over 100k for a CISSP.

paul78

the_hutch wrote: »

And so that we can sigh and go pop some prozac when inconsiderate ***holes post articles like this...

Justin - I'm sure that the OP didn't post this to irk people and he/she was simply trying to create some dialogue and share some information that he/she found valuable.

I don't really hold a lot of credence in any of these types of articles - they are always self-serving for the author or the organization that writes them.

I applaud your contribution as a serving member of the US military. I do recognize that your compensation doesn't equal what is offered in the private sector. But as a IT manager in the private sector, I am sure if you do separate from the military, your military service will always assure you full consideration for most jobs that you apply for. A lot of US companies and hiring managers (even those that are not government affiliated) will preference candidates with military service when considering infosec professionals.

As for those wondering where ISC2 salary numbers come from - ISC2 does sponsor salary surveys of it's members with Frost and Sullivan - you can find it here:

https://www.isc2.org/uploadedFiles/Industry_Resources/FS_WP_ISC%20Study_020811_MLW_Web.pdf

the_hutch

paul78 wrote: »

Justin - I'm sure that the OP didn't post this to irk people and he/she was simply trying to create some dialogue and share some information that he/she found valuable.

Yeah...I was being a bit extreme. I certainly didn't mean any offense to the OP.

paul78 wrote: »

As for those wondering where ISC2 salary numbers come from - ISC2 does sponsor salary surveys of it's members with Frost and Sullivan - you can find it here:

https://www.isc2.org/uploadedFiles/Industry_Resources/FS_WP_ISC%20Study_020811_MLW_Web.pdf

Haha...I'm going to use this link to start more appropriately skewing the results.

emerald_octane

Now that I think about it there was a guy on this board who said he made something like 20k-25k with CISSP, CCNA, MSCE and a whole bunch of other certs. Honestly I don't know how legit that is (how could one even pay for all those certs on that salary) but the point is there are alot of lowpaid CISSP but I don't think it's the norm.

tpatt100

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Yeah I know right? lol I had to take my CISSP twice for over a grand total not counting time off work to take it.

filkenjitsu

Inconsiderate sh*thole? For posting an article?

paul78

@filkenjitsu - I believe that @the_hutch has already admitted that he was a bit extreme and meant no offense.

the_hutch

filkenjitsu...it was more a stab at the article than at you. And I wasn't really being serious either. To be honest, I don't really have a problem with the article either, since it at least acknowledges that experience and connections also contribute to salary as well. Instead of indirectly suggesting that...get these certs...get this salary. But yeah, like paul78 said, I meant no offense. It was not intended to seem malicious or aggressive in any way. Mostly just intended to be humorous. So if it was recieved incorrectly my apologies for choosing my words poorly.

filkenjitsu

Thanks for the explanation Justin

spiderjericho

the_hutch wrote: »

One thing is sure though. They definitely didn't poll me when calculating the CISSP average...cause I'm pretty sure my salary would have bumped the average down a few thousand.

Same applies to me. I'm an E7 with a degree, a couple professional Cisco certs, 2003/2008 MCSA, CISSP and a couple other alphabet soup certifications and am underpaid. My EAS is this July, but I have a daughter with congenital heart disease and would rather not have to worry about who is going to pay for the medical bills or generosity in time off.