TechRepublic's reader's know the value of training in today's job market--do you?

The quote below is from the TechRepublic 2010 IT Skills and Salary Report

The Impact of Training and Certification on Salary

...job performance was the key driver for those who received a raise. Both managers and staff agree that training and certifications impact job performance. More than 84% of managers who sent their staff to receive training felt staff members were more effective in their job role after training. Non-managerial respondents answered similarly, with 78%
indicating they felt more effective at their jobs after training.

Do certifications have an impact on current base salary? The perception by non-managerial respondents is “yes”. Over two-thirds of all respondents (11,916) took some form of training in the prior 12 months. From this group, more than half (6,471) did so to prepare for certification exams. For these respondents there was a significant positive relationship between post-certification effectiveness and their certification’s perceived impact to base salary. In other words, those who felt more effective on the job after certification also were more apt to say that certifications positively impacted salary. Overall, professionals who had earned an IT or project management certification during the last five years earned an average of $5,242 more than their counterparts ($85,628 vs. $80,386).

The relationship between training and salary is validated further when reviewing base pay for those who trained during the last year and those that did not. The average salary for those
that trained, across all training categories, was $83,106, versus $80,130 for those who did not. This trend is similar to that identified in the 2009 study.

However, salary is not determined solely by training or certification. Other variables have significant impact. One of those is tenure in the profession. Two-thirds of all respondents took some form training in the last year. That percentage was consistent across tenure groups, indicating that the benefits of training are clearly visible across career stages.

Does the type of training one receives make a difference? Again, the answer is “yes”. After controlling for tenure, respondents who took only IT training had lower average salaries than their counterparts who did not take training in the prior year ($74,025 vs. $80,130). However, if the respondent also took some form of project management or business-related training (including ITIL®) in addition to his or her IT training, that deficit reversed ($86,021 vs. $80,130).

 

To view the entire survey, go to the TechRepublic website