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 These posts contain previously unpublished Salary Survey data.

In the unlikely event that Cisco and its computer networking products were to suddenly vanish from the planet, Juniper Networks is one of the companies out that that might suddenly find itself filling a rather large void. For anyone who like to be prepared for unlikely events, or just those looking to branch out in the networking realm, Juniper offers a variety of certifications.

The root of the Juniper certification tree is the Juniper Networks Certified Internetworking Associate (JNCIA) Junos credential, generally shorthanded as JNCIA-Junos. A reliable presence in our annual Salary Survey, JNCIA-Junos appears at No. 51 in our most recent Salary Survey 75 list.

Here’s what the salary picture looks like for JNCIA-Junos holders who responded to the Salary Survey:

All U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $111,390
Median Annual Salary: $105,000
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 12.2 percent
Very Satisfied: 22.2 percent
Satisfied: 55.6 percent
Not Very Satisfied: [No responses]
Not At All Satisfied: 10 percent

All Non-U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $60,510
Median Annual Salary: $61,670
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 12.5 percent
Very Satisfied: 16.7 percent
Satisfied: 50 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 16.7 percent
Not At All Satisfied: [No responses]

The largest single body of JNCIA-Junos holders who responded to the survey is made up of U.S. residents (36 percent), but we heard from credential holders in a number of other countries as well. Our other certified professionals chimed in from the following 15 countries: Argentina, Australia, Canada, Croatia, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Malaysia, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

Men tend to predominate in the IT world, and the Juniper Network realm, it would appear, is not at all an exception to the rule. While usually at least a handful of female professionals chime in, 100 percent of our JNCIA-Junos holders are men. The age distribution of those surveyed is a textbook curve that peaks in the middle and has almost identically sloping sides: 4 percent of respondents are between ages of 19 and 24, with 24.4 percent between the ages of 25 and 34, an even 40 percent between the ages of 35 and 44, 23.6 percent between the ages of 45 and 54, and 8 percent between the ages of 55 and 64.

In terms of the highest level of formal education completed by survey respondents, most are college-educated with either a bachelor’s degree (52 percent of those surveyed), master’s degree (24 percent), associate’s degree (4.4 percent), or professional degree (2.8 percent). The outliers are the 12 percent of respondents who completed some level of technical training after high school and the 4.8 percent whose highest educational high is a high school diploma.

Just like with the gender makeup of our survey group, our JNCIA-Junos holders are of one type when it comes to employment: a relatively rare 100 percent of those surveyed have full-time jobs. About half put in at least a little extra time at the office each week, with 44 percent of respondents working between 41 and 50 hours per week, while 8.4 percent put in more than 50 hours each week. The other half either have a standard 40-hour work week (40 percent of respondents), or get by putting in somewhere between 31 and 39 hours per week (7.6 percent).

In terms of workplace standing, the largest single group of JNCIA-Junos holders are senior specialists (46.4 percent of those surveyed), followed, in descending order, but specialists (28.6 percent), rank-and-file employees (14.3 percent), managers (3.9 percent), senior managers (3.6 percent), and directors (3.2 percent).

A little less than half of the JNCIA-Junos holders we surveyed are relative newcomers to the networking realm, having worked in a role that directly utilizes one or more of their certified skills for either between zero years (1 to 11 months) and 2 years (14.3 percent), between 3 and 5 years (25 percent), or between 6 and 8 years (7.1 percent). The balance, 53.6 percent of those surveyed, have been plying their certified skills for more than a decade.

Finally, here’s the view of JNCIA-Junos 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: 46.4 percent
Several times a week: 35.7 percent
Several times a month: 3.6 percent
Occasionally: 14.3 percent
Rarely: [No responses]

Since becoming certified, I feel there is greater demand for my skills.
Strongly agree: 39.3 percent
Agree: 46.4 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 10.7 percent
Disagree: 3.6 percent
Strongly Disagree: [No responses]

Becoming certified has increased my problem-solving skills.
Strongly agree: 28.6 percent
Agree: 42.9 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 17.9 percent
Disagree: 3.6 percent
Strongly Disagree: [No responses]

Becoming certified has increased my workplace productivity.
Strongly agree: 32.1 percent
Agree: 42.9 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 25 percent
Disagree: [No responses]
Strongly Disagree: [No responses]