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 These posts contain previously unpublished Salary Survey data.

There are twelve different certifications available at the "administrator" level inside the IBM information technology ecosystem. So you'll have to do some narrowing of the scope of your technology administration interests before becoming an IBM Certified Administrator (No. 35 on our most recent Salary Survey 75 list).

Here what the salary picture looks like for IBM Certified Administrator holders who responded to the Salary Survey:

All U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $115,900
Median Annual Salary: $115,000
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 22.2 percent
Very Satisfied: 16.7 percent
Satisfied: 22.2 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 27.8 percent
Not At All Satisfied: 11.1 percent

All Non-U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $43,510
Median Annual Salary: $36,250
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 4.1
Very Satisfied: 4.1 percent
Satisfied: 40.8 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 42.8 percent
Not At All Satisfied: 8.2 percent

The largest single body of IBM Certified Administrator holders to participate in the survey is made up of U.S. residents (26.9 percent of those surveyed), but we also heard from credential holders in 24 other countries: Australia, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and Venezuela.

Women appear to be making some inroads in this neck of the IT woods: 12.5 percent of IBM Certified Administrator holders who responded to the survey are female. Generally speaking, the pool of credential holders is somewhat youthful, with 11.9 percent of respondents between the ages of 25 and 34, 41.8 percent between the ages of 35 and 44, and 26.9 percent between the ages of 45 and 54. The remaining 19.4 percent of respondents are between the ages of 55 and 64.

More than 85 percent of IBM Certified Administrator 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 IBM Certified Administrator holders is either a bachelor's degree (38.8 percent of those surveyed), master's degree (31.3 percent), professional degree (7.5 percent), or doctorate (1.5 percent). The outliers are the 10.5 percent of respondents who completed some level of technical training after high school and the 4.4 percent who exited the realm of formal education after getting a high school diploma.

There's a strongly positive employment outlook for IBM Certified Administrator holders: 93.5 percent of survey respondents are employed full-time, 5.6 percent have part-time jobs, and the remaining 1.4 percent are currently enjoying some form of sabbatical. Nobody is out of work. Among those with full-time jobs, most are at work either between 41 and 50 hours per week (53.7 percent of those surveyed) or for the standard 40 hours per week (29.9 percent). The rest are either punching the clock for more than 50 hours per week (9 percent of respondents) or between 31 and 39 hours per week (7.4 percent).

More than 73 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 (41.3 percent) or between 10 and 20 hours (31.8 percent). After that, there's a little bit of everything: 6.3 percent work between 21 and 30 hours per week from home, 7.9 percent work between 31 and 39 hours per week from home, 4.8 percent work 40 hours per week from home, and 7.9 percent work more than 40 hours per week from home.

In terms of workplace standing, the largest single group of IBM Certified Administrator holders we heard from are employed at the senior specialist level (57.3 percent of those surveyed). The rest, in descending order, are either specialists (13.4 percent of respondents), rank-and-file employees (also 13.4 percent), managers (4.8 percent), senior managers (3.7 percent), directors (also 3.7 percent), or executives (also 3.7 percent).

A core 54.2 percent of the IBM Certified Administrator 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 (3.6 percent of respondents), between 3 and 5 years (15.7 percent), between 6 and 8 years (12 percent), or between 9 and 10 years (14.5 percent).

Finally, here's the view of IBM Certified Administrator 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: 34.9 percent
Several times a week: 26.5 percent
Several times a month: 13.3 percent
Occasionally: 14.5 percent
Rarely: 10.8 percent

Since becoming certified, I feel there is greater demand for my skills.
Strongly agree: 24.1 percent
Agree: 41 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 24.1 percent
Disagree: 8.4 percent
Strongly Disagree: 2.4 percent

Becoming certified has increased my problem-solving skills.
Strongly agree: 16.9 percent
Agree: 43.4 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 22.9 percent
Disagree: 12 percent
Strongly Disagree: 4.8 percent

Becoming certified has increased my workplace productivity.
Strongly agree: 19.3 percent
Agree: 39.8 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 25.3 percent
Disagree: 8.4 percent
Strongly Disagree: 7.2 percent

PAST IBM CERTIFIED ADMINISTRATOR DEEP FOCUS FEATURES

2018

2017