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 2022. 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 2022:

1) Salary Survey 2022: An all-new Salary Survey 75: “No, we aren’t implying that everyone who has Certification A can expect to make Salary B from Employer C straight out of the testing center. As touched on above, there are many factors that determine salary, and the presence or absence of a particular credential on your résumé is only one of them. It sure is a fun one to talk about, though, right?" (by CertMag Staff)

2) Salary Survey 2022: For IT professionals and others, the past was present: "There were big stretches of 2021 where the world seemed trapped in a cycle of, in the words of renowned sportsman and social scientist Yogi Berra, “déjà vu all over again.” A surging pandemic stalled the economy and flooded hospitals. The U.S. political arena witnessed a series of bitter partisan struggles while a sitting president was catcalled by pollsters and pundits." (by CertMag Staff)

3) Every IT professional should master these six non-technical skills: "Time management means more than arriving at work on time and staying present until your shift ends. Time management is a skill set that covers multiple situations, including which tasks you should start your day with, how to avoid and deal with interruptions, and when to shift to a different task in order to optimize your daily output." (by Aaron Axline)

4) Salary Survey 2022: Certification entrenches IT skills, confers salary clout "Whatever its impact on salary, certification isn’t only about short-term gains. More than 32 percent of those surveyed have been working in a job role that directly utilizes one or more of their certified skills for longer than 10 years. That kind of longevity suggests that earning and maintaining a certification can keep you moving forward in your career, perhaps indefinitely." (by CertMag Staff)

5) Cheating is an ongoing source of pain for IT certification exam providers "One of the most important responsibilities of any certification program owner is to protect the integrity of the field. That term comes to us from golf, where playing by the rules is considered a fundamental and integral element of the sport. I was involved in the first IT Certification Security Council, in operation from 2001 to 2004, where we focused on catching exam cheats." (by Peter Manijak)

6) Salary Survey Extra: What is your most recently earned IT certification? "The human physiologist and cultural commentator William Martin Joel once speculated about the existence of a theoretical auxiliary reserve of energy and willpower that he described as being like a 'wind.' As Joel once wrote, 'Don’t forget your second wind.' He further postulated that 'sooner or later you’ll feel that momentum kick in.' " (by CertMag Staff)

7) Which vendor’s cloud certifications are right for your IT career? "For now and for the foreseeable future, the cloud is the foundation of our tech-driven world. But there is no one 'cloud' to become an expert in. Just as there are different cloud computing models out there, the cloud services industry is comprised of numerous vendors, with each of them holding a percentage of the global market." (by Aaron Axline)

8) Test your knowledge of PowerShell scripting: "Questions regarding basic knowledge of PowerShell, which is quite intuitive and simple in operation, appear on certification exams from several vendors. This includes the most recent version of the PenTest+ exam from CompTIA." (by Emmett Dulaney)

9) Salary Survey Extra: Will you get a bigger salary if you earn more certs?: "There are definitely some areas in life where more is better, at least up to a point. 'More is better' thinking generally applies to things that people don’t get, have, or do enough of in the first place. For example, the National Institutes of Health in the United States recently reported that most Americans get fewer than seven hours of sleep per night." (by CertMag Staff)

10) Digging into the nuts and bolts of creating a great IT certification exam: "A well-designed exam validates the IT skills and knowledge of individuals on both sides of the exam: those who created the exam and those who use the exam to become certified. Not only that, but the exam and its associated credential increase the value of the skills and training associated with it." (by Peter Manijak)

KEEP GOING

2022 in Review: Most popular articles 11 through 20

2022 in Review: Most popular articles 21 through 30

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