This whitepaper discusses how selected organizations view and ultimately compensate technical staff based on their level of technical certification, and by implication, technical competence. The information below is based on responses to a study by research firm, Gartner (“Gartner 2006 IT Market Compensation Study”, July 2006) in which compensation managers, hiring managers and IT managers from 188 US corporations were surveyed on a broad range of compensation related topics. This study was a Gartner led primary research project and Microsoft was not involved in the sponsorship, creation, development, execution or results analysis of this study in any way | March 2007 A Microsoft Learning Whitepaper The Value of Certification Connecting the dots between employers and employees THE VALUE OF CERTIFICATION A Microsoft Learning Whitepaper Introduction This whitepaper discusses how selected organizations view and ultimately compensate technical staff based on their level of technical certification and by implication technical competence. The information below is based on responses to a study by research firm Gartner Gartner 2006 IT Market Compensation Study July 2006 in which compensation managers hiring managers and IT managers from 188 US corporations were surveyed on a broad range of compensation related topics. This study was a Gartner led primary research project and Microsoft was not involved in the sponsorship creation development execution or results analysis of this study in any way. One question in the survey in particular focused on respondent attitudes to offer a salary premium for a selected list of technical certifications based on the following question What premium as a percentage of base salary are you willing to pay for individuals possessing the following certifications The responses suggest that a small minority of organizations surveyed actually offer a base salary premium and part of the reason for this is that hiring managers considered certification as part of the job requirement. Equally hiring managers tend to view certifications as a more objective measure of a candidate s skill level than selfreported skills and competency. The added market value that a certification brings can be as high as 30 -40 . The average salary uplift reported across all certifications in the study was in the 5 -11 range. While the list of selected certifications in the study was broad it was not comprehensive and for example excluded Microsoft s new generation of certifications. However the results do provide some highlights to support the notion that technical certifications can in fact attract a base salary premium. .
