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 These posts contain previously unpublished Salary Survey data.‍

Sometimes it's best to get the 50-cent spiel straight from the horse's mouth. What can you do with Adobe Experience Manager? Here's how Adobe explains it: "Adobe Experience Manager connects digital asset management, a powerful content management system, and digital enrollment to help your brand flourish." Of course, what will really lock in business success is hiring an Adobe Certified Expert to steer your AEM for you.

That gets us to a certification with a really long name, but some considerable clout: Adobe Certified Expert - Adobe Experience Manager Sites Developer. A newcomer to the Salary Survey 75, ACE-AEM Sites Developer (see what we did there?) is No. 19 on our most recent Salary Survey 75 list. Here’s what the salary picture looks like for ACE-AEM Sites Developer holders who responded to the Salary Survey:‍

All U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $124,030
Median Annual Salary: $127,500
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 40.9 percent
Very Satisfied: 22.7 percent
Satisfied: 27.2 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 9.1 percent
Not At All Satisfied: [No responses]‍

All Non-U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $76,110
Median Annual Salary: $71,250
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 7.1 percent
Very Satisfied: 42.9 percent
Satisfied: 28.6 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 21.4 percent
Not At All Satisfied: [No responses]

The largest single body of ACE-AEM Sites Developer holders to participate in the survey is made up of U.S. residents (61.1 percent), but we also heard from credential holders in 11 other countries: Afghanistan, Algeria, Austria, Canada, Central African Republic, Costa Rica, India, Mauritania, Mexico, Portugal, and the United Kingdom.

Adobe Experience Manager is at least somewhat uniquely attractive to women: an astonishing 36.1 percent of ACE-AEM Sites Developer holders who responded to the survey are women, way out in front of the Deep Focus norm, which is for women to account for between zero and 10-to-12 percent of responses. Most of the rest are men — 61.1 percent — with 2.8 percent of those surveyed choosing not to disclose their gender. Most of the ACE-AEM Sites Developer holders who participated in the survey are relatively seasoned professionals, either between the ages of 35 and 44 (55.6 percent) or between the ages of 45 and 54 (13.9 percent). Standing up for youth are the roughly 30 percent of respondents who are either between the ages of 25 and 34 (22.2 percent) or between the ages of 19 and 24 (8.3 percent).

More than 90 percent of ACE-AEM Sites Developer holders who participated in the survey have an educational background that includes time spent at a college or university. The highest level of education completed by most ACE-AEM Sites Developer holders is either a master’s degree (38.9 percent of respondents), bachelor’s degree (27.8 percent), doctorate (16.7 percent), associate’s degree (8.3 percent), or professional degree (2.8 percent). The outliers are the 5.5 percent of those surveyed who exited the realm of formal education after completing some level of post-high school technical training.

There's more employment flexibility among ACE-AEM Sites Developer holders than usual, with just 73.5 percent of survey respondents employed full-time, while 20.4 percent hold part-time jobs. (Roughly 6 percent of those surveyed are out of work altogether.) Among those who have full-time jobs, the weekly work schedule has many different configurations: 47.3 percent of those surveyed have a traditional 40-hour work week, while 16.7 percent put in between 41 and 50 hours per week, and 2.9 percent are on the job for more than 50 hours per week. On the flip side of that familiar coin, however, are the 19.4 percent of respondents whose full-time weekly work schedule only requires them to be on the clock for between 31 and 39 hours per week, while 11.1 percent put in between 20 and 30 hours, and 2.6 percent are on the job fewer than 20 hours.

If the ACE-AEM Sites Developer crowd worked from home during the early stages of the COVID-19, most of them aren't spending much time there now: Just 20 percent of respondents are spending their entire work schedule outside of a traditional office setting, putting in either 40 hours per week at home (13.9 percent) or more than 40 hours per week (5.6 percent). An additional 25 percent work from home for either between 31 and 39 hours per week (8.3 percent) or between 21 and 30 hours per week (16.7 percent). The remaining 55 percent of those surveyed, however, still commute to a traditional workplace for at least half of the time that they’re on the clock, working from home either between 10 and 20 hours per week (19.4 percent) or fewer than 10 hours per week (36.1 percent).

In terms of workplace standing, the largest single group of ACE-AEM Sites Developer holders we heard from are employed at the senior manager level (36 percent). The rest, in descending order, are either managers (20 percent), senior specialists (16 percent), specialists or executives (both 8 percent), or directors or rank-and-file employees (both 6 percent).

More than half of the ACE-AEM Sites Developer holders who responded to the survey are IT newcomers, having worked in a role that directly utilizes one or more of their certified skills either for between zero years (1 to 11 months) and 2 years (8 percent of respondents) or for between 3 and 5 years (46 percent). The rest have been plying their certified skills for either between 6 and 8 years (34 percent), between 9 and 10 years (10 percent), or for more than 10 years (2 percent).

Finally, here’s the view of ACE-AEM Sites Developer 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: 12 percent
Several times a week: 56 percent
Several times a month: 28 percent
Occasionally: 4 percent
Rarely: [No responses]‍

Since becoming certified, I feel there is greater demand for my skills.
Strongly agree: 38 percent
Agree: 42 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 16 percent
Disagree: 2.1 percent
Strongly Disagree: 1.9 percent‍

Becoming certified has increased my problem-solving skills.
Strongly agree: 20 percent
Agree: 46 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 28 percent
Disagree: 4 percent
Strongly Disagree: 2 percent

‍Becoming certified has increased my workplace productivity.
Strongly agree: 28 percent
Agree: 44 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 22 percent
Disagree: 4 percent
Strongly Disagree: 2 percent

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