What about education? Of 1720 respondents to our question about education levels achieved, 18 percent have an associate degree, 41 percent have a bachelor's degree, and 15 percent have a master's degree. Two percent boast a doctoral degree. In general, the more advanced the degree, the larger the paycheck, as Figure 2 shows. Despite the findings evident in the figure, however, pursuing that doctoral degree won't necessarily lift you to the next income bracket: Most of the IT pros who have a doctoral degree—nearly 54 percent—fall in the $80,000-to-$99,999 range, with only 18 percent laying claim to a salary higher than $100,000.
Are you certified? According to our survey, 40 percent of you aren't. The three most popular certifications among you are the Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator (MCSA), the Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE), and Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP), at 40, 38, and 18 percent, respectively. Interestingly, half of you think certification has made a difference, and the other half of you don't. What's the real story? You might be surprised to find that certification, in general, isn't all it's cracked up to be: Whereas 14.6 percent of IT pros holding some kind of Microsoft certification can boast salaries higher than $100,000, 17.5 percent of IT pros without certification can make the same claim. It's only in the $60,000-to-$99,999 range that the number of certified respondents exceed the number of non-certified—49.3 percent versus 43 percent.
Where Do You Work?
In many ways, your salary is also affected by the company you work for. As we saw in our 2004 survey, factors such as company size, location, and type of business affect what IT professionals can hope to earn.
We can measure company size in several ways, but for our purposes, let's focus on two metrics that are especially pertinent to you: number of supported end users and number of servers. In general, the more end users or servers you're responsible for, the higher your salary. Tables 6 and 7 show the general salary uptick according to supported users and supported servers, respectively.
In which geographic region are you working? The vast majority of you—76 percent—work in North America, with Europe (13 percent) and East Asia/Pacific (6 percent) taking up the slack. It probably comes as no surprise that these three areas are the highest paying, with East Asia offering the highest percentage (21 percent) of salaries above $100,000—an interesting statistic, considering that many US companies are outsourcing to Asia to save money. The areas in which respondents earn the lowest average salaries are Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Here in North America, the most represented region is the South (25 percent), followed by the West and Midwest (both 23 percent), and the Northeast (18 percent). The highest salaries can be found in the South, with 21.2 percent of IT pros receiving salaries higher than $100,000, followed closely by the Northeast (20.6 percent) and the West (18 percent).
What's your industry? Popular industries for IT pros this year are consulting, government work, computer-related manufacturing, and accounting/banking. When it comes to salaries, accounting/banking pays the most impressively, with 34 percent of applicable respondents reporting salaries higher than $90,000. The industries addressed in our survey that pay the lowest salaries are agriculture/forestry and entertainment/recreation. So remember: If you want the big bucks, you need to stay tied to your cubicle. No outdoors for you!
How Do You Feel?
Now that we've broken down your salary according to several key factors—job function, gender, age, experience, education, certification, number of end users and company statistics, region, and industry—how do you feel about your paycheck in relation to industry averages? Are your earnings in line with those of others in your field? If not, perhaps now's the time to approach your supervisor and have "the talk." Good luck!
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