There is a vast library of IT certification content here at CertMag.com, and each year it gets a little deeper. With new articles four days a week most weeks during the year, that’s roughly 200 new articles every year. Some are articles previously published in Certification Magazine, but about three-quarters of what you get here on the website is original content.

No doubt there are some of you out there who read everything that shows up here. (Or at least we hope there’s no doubt of that. And if you really are one of those hardcore CertMag readers, then gold star for you. We’d like to shake your hand and buy you a drink.) The average drop-in visitor, however, probably doesn’t get even a real taste of everything that shows up here in a calendar year.

That’s why recaps like this are so helpful. There’s no need to wonder what you’ve missed: Other visitors to the site have already voted with their mouse clicks, and curated a list of the most compelling articles to appear on the site in 2021. We’re going to do this in three installments, comprising the 30 most-read new articles of the year.

Today we’re bringing you the top of the list, our 10 most popular articles of 2021, numbers 11 through 20:

11) Salary Survey 2021: IT professionals tend to be older, get certified early: “By 1455, novice printer Johannes Gutenberg had introduced movable type to the printing process and completed production of about 180 copies of a new edition of the Bible, attaching his name to one of the world’s most consequential inventions and launching a cultural and social revolution that is still impacting human events.” (by CertMag Staff)

12) With support and encouragement, high school students can pass professional IT certification exams: “All of these teachers have the same goal. The want to help students acquire knowledge and skills that have direct application in the modern global workforce. One important tool that many of them use in this ongoing mission is IT certifications.” (by Aubrey Barnett)

13) Salary Survey Extra: Deep Focus on CCNA: “It was French man of letters Alphonse Karr who said the thing about, ‘The more things change, the more they change back to what they were really not very long ago, like maybe five or six years is all.’ (Eh, it was something like that.)” (by CertMag Staff)

14) Salary Survey Extra: Does more certs on your résumé = more money in your pocket?: “In a letter to Elizabeth Virginia Wallace dated Sept. 5, 1911, future U.S. president Harry S. Truman wrote that, ‘There is nothing better than cake but more cake,’ an observation that perhaps inadvertently ranked the future Mrs. Harry S. Truman behind both ‘cake’ and ‘more cake’ and possibly explains why, notwithstanding a proposal of marriage that same year, the hoped-for nuptials did not actually occur until 1919.” (by CertMag Staff)

15) The best advice I ever got about how to get certified: “Remember as well that, in real life, it’s OK to go and do research. You aren’t expected to know everything even after getting certified. The fact that you are willing to work to expand what you know will impress any manager.” (by Nathan Kimpel)

16) Learning to write computer code provides numerous advantages to children: “Every child who learns how to write code is not going to become a professional programmer. Some will, but what policymakers really are banking on is that many more will develop fluency in computational thinking, a skill that is applicable in STEM and other disciplines.” (by Reena Ghosh)

17) As access to technology improves, more people are better equipped to learn about technology: “The way IT is taught and learned has changed drastically as the field continues to grow. Perhaps the biggest shift in the past 20 years has been the rapid decline in the formality of learning. In the past, the best way to learn was either from an instructor-led class, a book, or by trial and error.” (by Emmett Dulaney)

18) Successful IT professionals add new skills and knowledge whenever they can: “During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it has been reported often that there are record numbers of people quitting their jobs, reassessing their lives, and deciding to change what they do for a living. Hiring managers are looking for talented people, and companies want workers who can grow within their ecosystem and become knowledgeable about their products.” (by Peter Manijak)

19) Job profile: Become an information security manager: “A distinction in terms is probably helpful here, as most information security managers are not typically managers in the traditional sense of supervising and directing the work of others. Rather, they use information security tools and techniques to carry out various cybersecurity functions.” (by Nathan Kimpel)

20) New Fortinet program takes aim at the cybersecurity talent shortage: “One way the Training Advancement Agenda is making strides is through the multiple NSE courses to reduce the cyber skills gap through training and certifications, career opportunities and partnerships. Below are some recent NSE Training Institute milestones.” (by Sandra Wheatley)

KEEP GOING

2021 in Review: Our 10 most popular articles of the year

2021 in Review: Most popular articles 21 through 30

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