Redmond magazine's 2007 IT Salary Survey reveals that salaries, raises and bonuses went up for the third year in a row. Local business owners expect salaries to still go up as employers have to keep up with their companies' demands for skilled workers.
Numbers from the U.S. Department of Labor corroborate the evidence. Of the 797,000 jobs available from 2004 through the year 2014, Labor foresees computer support specialist and systems administrator jobs growing 18 percent to 26 percent. (source: Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2006-07 Edition," www.bls.gov/oco/ocos268.htm)
Bonuses were one big surprise in 2007. Respondents said they made significant gains from the 2006 result of $3,223. with an average bonus of $5,985. For 2008, 59 percent of respondents think they'll be up for bonuses again.
Respondents agree that certification has helped them get better jobs. In certain cases certification increased salaries two-fold. Some respondents find certifications important to learn new technologies for others it is peace of mind in case they get laid off.
An astounding 46.9% of respondents reported "Paid Training" as additional compensation from their employer and 33.4% reported their employers having paid for their certification exams.
Salaries are up -- way up! -- across the board for those of you holding Cisco certification titles, with both starting salaries and top-tier credentials bringing in significantly more than ever before.
If you're an IT professional working with Cisco technology and you haven't seen your salary rise, then you're in a small minority.
Want to make sure you have the certifications managers want? Following are the top 10 certs.
MCP, MCSE, MCSA, CCNA, A+, MCDST, MCSE: Security, MCDBA, Network+, MCSE: Messaging.