Top 10 Tech Certs to Increase Earning Power

Dice Learning surveyed nearly 17,000 IT pros to determine the technical training and certifications that help them command higher salaries.

Said Evan Lesser, director of Dice Learning:

 “Not all certifications are created equal in terms of paycheck impact. While nearly half of all technology professionals have at least one certification, a minority attributed pay increases to certification. When you combine in-demand skill sets and proven salary impact, specific certifications become valuable to individual technology professionals.”

Check out the top 10 certifications that boost pay, according to that survey.

Click through to see the results from a Dice Learning survey about which certifications translate into added earning power.

With this certification, professionals aim to prove they have the knowledge and skills to shepherd projects to a successful conclusion, on time, on budget and within the resources allocated. As companies return to projects that were shelved during the economic downturn, that’s increasingly important.

These professionals — systems engineers, technical support engineers, system analysts, network analysts and technical consultants– spend their time maintaining the basic platforms on which so much business is conducted. They have shown they can design, implement and administer technology infrastructures using Microsoft 2000 Windows Server and other Windows server platforms.

This vendor-neutral certification from the trade group CompTIA is a standard for tech-support technicians. It shows they can install networks, conduct preventative maintenance, secure them and troubleshoot them.

Those with this certification have demonstrated their ability to install, configure, run and troubleshoot medium-sized routed and switched networks. They’ve also proven themselves with security and wireless basics, and their ability to work with a number of protocols.

Developers, trainers, system architects and other tech professionals use this certification to spotlight their expertise with a range of Microsoft technologies.

This certification from CompTIA demonstrates an IT pro’s ability to manage, maintain, troubleshoot, install and configure basic network infrastructures. It’s included in certification programs of tech leaders such as Microsoft, Novell, Cisco and H-P.

This certification, recognized globally as a standard for expertise, requires five years of experience in information security.

Tech professionals with this certification show off their expertise in systems administration and troubleshooting networks that use the Windows Server operating environment. It’s earned by systems administrators, network administrators, information systems administrators, network operations analysts, network technicians, and technical support specialists, among others.

The three-tier ITIL certification demonstrates the expertise of professionals in IT operational best practices. The Foundation Certificate shows a basic knowledge of ITIL terminology, service support and delivery. The Practitioner Certificate demonstrates an ability to apply specific processes within IT service management. The Manager’s Certificate showcases expertise in overseeing service management.

The CompTIA Security+ certification demonstrates knowledge of system security, network infrastructure, access control and organizational security.