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 These posts contain previously unpublished Salary Survey data.

Managing risk at the level of big business is a complicated proposition without factoring computers and technology into the equation. When you add in IT systems and all of the potential problems that come with them, it takes a seriously adept juggler to keep all of the balls in the air.

Cybersecurity and IT governance association ISACA has codified the skill set needed to achieve success in such circumstances and anyone who masters those skills can verify their expertise with the Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC) credential, which checks in at No. 8 on our most recent Salary Survey 75 list.

Here's what the salary picture looks like for CRISC holders who responded to the Salary Survey:

All U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $139,050
Median Annual Salary: $121,670
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 7 percent
Very Satisfied: 17.2 percent
Satisfied: 37.9 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 27.6 percent
Not At All Satisfied: 10.3 percent

All Non-U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $92,170
Median Annual Salary: $90,000
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 4.2 percent
Very Satisfied: 25 percent
Satisfied: 33.3 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 33.3 percent
Not At All Satisfied: 4.2 percent

The largest single body of CRISC holders to participate in the survey is made up of U.S. residents (60.4 percent), but we also heard from credential holders in 11 other countries: Brazil, Canada, Denmark, India, Lebanon, Netherlands, Pakistan, Spain, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United Kingdom.

ISACA is actively involved in opening up the IT industry in general to women, but the Salary Survey strongly suggests that its certifications are mostly held by men: 95.8 percent of CRISC holders who responded to the survey are men. Most in that group are also relatively seasoned professionals, with more than 66 percent of those surveyed either between the ages of 45 and 54 (41.7 percent) or between the ages of 55 and 64 (25 percent). The only "youthful" cohorts among the ranks are the 31.3 percent of respondents who are between the ages of 35 and 44, and the 2 percent between the ages of 25 and 34.

More than 85 percent of CRISC 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 CRISC holders is either a master's degree (56.3 percent of respondents), bachelor's degree (22.0 percent), associate's degree (4.1 percent), or doctorate (2.1 percent). The outliers are the 12.5 percent of those surveyed who exited the realm of formal education after completing some level of post-high school technical training, and the 2.1 percent who topped out with a high school diploma.

A rare and impressive 100 percent of CRISC holders who participated in the survey are employed full-time. If getting a CRISC is more or less equivalent to having a full-time job, however, then it's also largely a guarantee of putting in some extra hours at the office: an even 50 percent of those surveyed work between 41 and 50 hours per week, and 12.5 percent are actively at work for more than 50 hours per week. Just 22.9 percent of respondents have a traditional 40-hour work week, while 14.6 percent are fortunate enough to work between 31 and 39 hours per week.

A little more than half (56.3 percent) of CRISC holders who participated in the survey spend most of those hours in a traditional workplace setting, clocking fewer than 10 hours per week from home. There is some strong work-from-home potential, however: 14.6 percent of those surveyed put in more than 40 hours per week from home, and a further 15 percent work from home for either between 31 and 39 hours per week (6.2 percent) or between 21 and 30 hours per week (8.3 percent). The remaining 14.6 percent of respondents put in between 10 and 20 hours per week from home.

In terms of workplace standing, the largest single group of CRISC holders we heard from are employed at the senior specialist level (26.5 percent). The rest, in descending order, are either managers (22.4 percent), senior managers (20.4 percent), directors (16.3 percent), specialists (10.2 percent), or executives (4.2 percent).

A substantial 75.5 percent of CRISC holders who responded to the survey are IT veterans, having worked in a role that directly utilizes one or more of 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 (2 percent), between 3 and 5 years (8.2 percent), between 6 and 8 years (10.2 percent), or between 9 and 10 years (4.1 percent).

Finally, here's the view of CRISC 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: 53.1 percent
Several times a week: 28.6 percent
Several times a month: 10.2 percent
Occasionally: 8.1 percent
Rarely: [No responses]

Since becoming certified, I feel there is greater demand for my skills.
Strongly agree: 32.7 percent
Agree: 40.8 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 22.4 percent
Disagree: 4.1 percent
Strongly Disagree: [No responses]

Becoming certified has increased my problem-solving skills.
Strongly agree: 16.3 percent
Agree: 47 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 24.4 percent
Disagree: 10.2 percent
Strongly Disagree: 2.1 percent

Becoming certified has increased my workplace productivity.
Strongly agree: 16.3 percent
Agree: 36.7 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 32.7 percent
Disagree: 10.2 percent
Strongly Disagree: 4.1 percent

PAST CRISC DEEP FOCUS FEATURES

2019

2017