Salary Survey Extra is a series of periodic dispatches that give added insight into the findings of our most recent Salary Survey. These posts contain previously unpublished Salary Survey data.

This will be the final Deep Focus feature of 2020, and we're either going out on a low note or perhaps a grimly fitting note by featuring a certification that is technically no longer available or renewable. When Cisco revamped its certification program in February, Cisco Certified Design Professional (CCDP) (No. 17 on our most recent Salary Survey 75 list) was retired. Anyone who held an active CCDP at that time was switched over to an active CCNP Enterprise credential. You were in Column A, now you're in Column B. Thank you, drive through.

Here's what the salary picture looks like (or looked like) for CCDP holders who responded to the Salary Survey:

All U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $130,780
Median Annual Salary: $137,500
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 6.3 percent
Very Satisfied: 38 percent
Satisfied: 36.9 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 12.5 percent
Not At All Satisfied: 6.3 percent

All Non-U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $53,250
Median Annual Salary: $45,000
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 7.2 percent
Very Satisfied: 7.1 percent
Satisfied: 27.3 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 26.4 percent
Not At All Satisfied: 8.2 percent

The largest single body of CCDP holders to participate in the survey is made up of U.S. residents (53.3 percent of those surveyed), but we also heard from credential holders in 11 other countries: Belgium, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe.

Most of the CCDP holders who responded to the survey are men — only a miniscule 3.3 percent of those surveyed are women. Generally speaking, the pool of credential holders is firmly rooted in middle age, with 90 percent of respondents either between the ages of 35 and 44 (36.7 percent) or between the ages of 45 and 54 (53.3 percent). The remaining 10 percent of respondents are either between the ages of 25 and 34 (6.6 percent) or between the ages of 55 and 64 (3.3 percent).

Exactly 70 percent of CCDP holders who responded to the survey have an educational background that includes time spent at a college or university. The highest level of education completed by most CCDP holders is either a bachelor's degree (33.3 percent of those surveyed), master's degree (13.3 percent), associate's degree (10 percent), doctorate (6.8 percent), or professional degree (6.6 percent). The outliers are the 20 percent of respondents who completed some level of technical training after high school and the 10 percent who exited the realm of formal education after getting a high school diploma.

There's a strongly positive employment outlook for CCDP holders: 96.8 percent of survey respondents are employed full-time, with the remaining 3.2 percent out of work. Among those with full-time jobs, most are at work either between 41 and 50 hours per week (39.2 percent of those surveyed) or for the standard 40 hours per week (54 percent). The rest, a hard-working 6.8 percent of those surveyed, are punching the clock for more than 50 hours per week.

More than 80 percent of those surveyed are (or were, pre-COVID-19) spending most of those hours in a traditional workplace, working at home either 10 or fewer hours per week (73.3 percent) or between 10 and 20 hours (10 percent). After that, there's a little bit of everything: 7.4 percent work between 21 and 30 hours per week from home, 6.2 percent work 40 hours per week from home, and 3.1 percent work more than 40 hours per week from home.

In terms of workplace standing, the largest single group of CCDP holders we heard from are employed at the senior specialist level (66.7 percent of those surveyed). The rest, in descending order, are either rank-and-file employees (12.1 percent of respondents), managers (9.1 percent), directors (6.1 percent), senior managers (3 percent), or specialists (also 3 percent).

A notable 60.6 percent of the CCDP holders who responded to the survey are IT veterans, having worked in a role the directly utilizes their certified skills for more than a decade. The rest have been plying their certified skills for either between zero years (1 to 11 months) and 2 years (3 percent of respondents), between 3 and 5 years (12.1 percent), between 6 and 8 years (9.2 percent), or between 9 and 10 years (9 percent).

Finally, here's the view of CCDP holders on key questions from the survey about how certification impacts job performance:

At my current job I use skills learned or enhanced through certification:
Several times a day: 60.6 percent
Several times a week: 18.2 percent
Several times a month: 6.1 percent
Occasionally: 12.1 percent
Rarely: 3 percent

Since becoming certified, I feel there is greater demand for my skills.
Strongly agree: 42.5 percent
Agree: 36.4 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 18.1 percent
Disagree: 3 percent
Strongly Disagree: [No responses]

Becoming certified has increased my problem-solving skills.
Strongly agree: 42.4 percent
Agree: 36.4 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 18.2 percent
Disagree: 3 percent
Strongly Disagree: [No responses]

Becoming certified has increased my workplace productivity.
Strongly agree: 33.4 percent
Agree: 39.4 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 24.2 percent
Disagree: 3 percent
Strongly Disagree: [No responses]

PAST CCDP DEEP FOCUS FEATURES

2017