If you are a professional and are wondering if you should get a certification to increase your market value, read on. Certifications are quite popular these days, and in fact the popularity of certifications has caused there to be less of a pay premium over non-certified professionals than ever before. However, there are still many good reasons to obtain a certification.
First, let me ask – would you hire an Accountant who wasn’t a CPA? Probably not. So why would you hire a Project Manager without a PMP certification? Or an IT help desk professional without a ComptTIAA A+ or MCSE certification? Or a Network Engineer without a CCNA or CCNP? To be certified shows you are serious about your craft and care about your profession. The rise in popularity of certifications is making the case that if you aren’t certified, some hiring managers and recruiters (like us) may tend to believe there is something wrong with your candidacy. The best example of this is a project leader who does not have a PMP or similar certification – I’d wonder why does this candidate not have a project management certification? Do I want to risk my reputation on vouching for someone who isn’t one of the millions who have the PMP? Similarly, if I am looking for a HR professional for my client, I’d strongly lean toward those with a PHR, SPHR, or SHRM certification, and if I’m seeking a Scrum Master, I’d certainly be looking for CSM or PMI-ACP certifications.
There are also some certifications that are not as widely popular, but for certain industries to have such a certification would make you stand out. While you may not get a higher salary, it may help you land your next career opportunity. Such examples are the CBAP (Certified Business Analysis Professional), the CCBA (Certification of Competency in Business Analysis), the various ITIL certifications (e.g., the ITIL Expert Certification), or the CCIE in the networking field.
There are still some certifications that are worth a salary premium. Typically, these types of certifications are in high-demand or in highly specialized fields. Examples include any of the cloud certifications (such as GCP, AWS or Azure), devops certifications (such as the Kubernetes or Docker certifications or the Cloud Certified DevOps Engineer), several of the cybersecurity certifications (such as the CISSP, CISM, CRISC, GCFE, GPEN, and CHFI), or even the Six Sigma certifications.
So instead of bemoaning why you are out of work, try to better yourself by investing in your career with valuable industry certifications.