What will be the hottest IT certifications in 2008? According to Michael Trapp at knowhow-now.com, they won’t be as Microsoft-centric as they were in previous years. Basing his list on “job growth, sales of certification training material and a little guess work,” Trapp argues that any of the listed certifications would be great to have whether you are looking to start your career or enhance it.
MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional) is a no-brainer, according to Trapp. “This will probably always be number 1 for the next 1,000 years. There are over 2 million people with this certification.”
Because most network administrator jobs right now are IP-related, Knapp considers the CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) the second most important.
The MCPD (Microsoft Certified Professional Developer) has been “on a rocket” since last year, says Knapp, who can’t say enough good things about it. Demand for these developers is up over 80 percent since last year, though only about 3,000 have the certification. He urges IT professionals to give this one serious consideration.
Knapp also puts his money on the SCJP (SUN Certified Java Programmer) certification, “one of the most valuable credentials that a programmer or developer can have” because nearly 70 percent of business entities’ development projects are done through J2EE.
Not surprisingly, the CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional)—with an average salary of $94,070—made it to the top five, something backed up by multiple research studies.
Filling out his top ten are the CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network +, MCTS SQL Server 2005 (Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist), RHCE (Red Hat Certified Engineer) and CompTIA Security+.
What are your thoughts on this list? Has an essential certification slipped through the cracks?