IT Certifications Can Boost Your Career

IT certifications are increasingly serving as potent career-boosters for today's technology professionals, according to a recent survey from CompTIA. The accompanying report, "HR Perceptions of IT Training and Certification," indicates that most tech pros have at least one certification. However, HR and business executives have traditionally been unsure about the true value of these certificates, according to the report. Fortunately, such impressions are changing, as many executives now attribute a wide range of strategy-supporting benefits to them. As a result, you're very likely to make more money with an IT certification than without one, findings show. "Having IT job candidates with industry certifications saves time and resources in evaluating applicants, ensures a candidate's credibility and demonstrates that they have a baseline set of knowledge," says Amy Carrado, director of research and market intelligence for CompTIA. "But the benefits to the employer don't end when the certified IT pro is hired. … Certified hires get up to speed more quickly; are more likely to stay with the company long term; have a higher likelihood of being promoted; and generally perform better than non-certified IT staff." HR executives, managers and professionals representing a total of 400 U.S. organizations took part in the research.