Certification Magazine - December 2007 - (Page 25) FIGURE 4: AVERAGE SALARY BY AGE 18 or under 19 to 24 25 to 29 30 to 34 35 to 39 40 to 44 45 to 49 50 to 54 55 to 59 60 to 64 65 or older 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 $16.94 $19.59 $32.21 $50.14 $62.74 $69.87 $72.41 $73.48 $72.92 $76.92 $71.57 70 80 90 100 Average Salary (x 1,000) Reported by Age friend,” “my wife” and “my husband” to the question, “Who paid for your most recent certification?” It was more of a family affair for about 2 percent of respondents, who said a friend or relative paid for their most recent certification. Four respondents cited their brother, and one person cited a sister (mom and dad appeared to be the family members most willing to help aspiring IT certificants). Interestingly, the average salary for respondents based on their time with an organization peaks and then dips over a 10-year period. If you spend eight years in an organization, the average salary is $77,300, whereas if you spend nine years, the average drops to $75,980. After 10 years, the average salary goes back up to $77,830. If you hold the same job at the same organization, the pattern is similar. Experience in one job yields an increasing salary up to five years — in the fifth year, salaries average $76,000, but one year later, they are at an average of $73,000. The average salary dips down again after nine years and goes back up after 10 years. Individuals who have been at the same organization for more than 10 years have an average salary of $78,070. These are important figures to note for understanding the time frame of your maximized earning potential. In respect to sex, male respondents average about $2,000 more than their female counterparts, who this year only constituted 9.7 percent of respondents, a 0.6 percent decrease from last year’s survey. 8 – Ben Warden, bwarden@certmag.com One mom truly went above and beyond parental duties, though — one respondent wrote, “My mother sold her farm produce and paid for my exams.” Now, that’s love. Most respondents were not as lucky, though. Nearly 39 percent of respondents had to dip into their own wallet, and for 44.6 percent, their employer footed the bill. These were, by far, the most popular responses to the question. The next-highest percentage of respondents said their employer reimbursed them for their most recent certification (7.8 percent), followed by splitting the cost between the respondent and his or her employer (6.6 percent). For a lucky 5 percent, a vendor/voucher picked up the tab for their most recent certification. Ivory towers and Uncle Sam proved to be less generous, though. Not even 1 percent of respondents said a grant paid for their most recent certification (0.8 percent), and the next-least-popular means of paying for the most recent certification were scholarships (1.2 percent) and the government/GI Bill (1.3 percent). The CertMag 2007 Salary Survey also asked respondents how much money they spent to get their primary certification. Nearly 60 percent of respondents said they spent less than $500, compared with about 44 percent last year. Certification’s Price Tag For a few CertMag 2007 Salary Survey respondents, love apparently means never having to say you’re not certified — some answered “my girl- December 2007 CERTIFICATION MAGAZINE 25
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