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 These posts contain previously unpublished Salary Survey data.‍‍‍

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Privacy protection problems can cause serious headaches for businesses and organizations in the information age. There is a hunger for personal identifiable information (PII) through both legitimate and illegitimate channels, and legal entities from individual U.S. states to the European Union are raising protection standards.

Privacy protection experts are expected to have the expertise to manage both compliance issues and data security issues. Individuals who hold the Certified Data Privacy Solutions Engineer (CDPSE) credential (No. 7 on our most recent Salary Survey 75 list) managed by cybersecurity and governance association ISACA are well-equipped to do both.

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

All U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $144,910
Median Annual Salary: $145,870
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 9.6 percent
Very Satisfied: 28.8 percent
Satisfied: 45.2 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 13.7 percent
Not At All Satisfied: 2.7 percent‍

All Non-U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $95,590
Median Annual Salary: $91,250
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 7.9 percent
Very Satisfied: 11.2 percent
Satisfied: 42.7 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 30.3 percent
Not At All Satisfied: 7.9 percent

The largest single body of CDPSE holders to participate in the survey is made up of U.S. residents (45.1 percent), but we also heard from credential holders in 36 other countries: Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bermuda, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Colombia, Cyprus, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Egypt, India, Israel, Italy, Kuwait, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, United Arabe Emirates, and United Kingdom.

ISACA is actively involved in opening up the IT industry in general to women and others, and there's evidence here that that effort is moving the needle: 74.8 percent of CDPSE holders who responded to the survey are men, but 22.7 percent are women. A tiny handful of survey participants either prefer not to identify their gender (1.5 percent of those surveyed), or are transgender male or transgender female (both 0.5 percent). A bit more than half of the CDPSE holders who participated in the survey are relatively seasoned professionals, either between the ages of 45 and 54 (35.2 percent), between the ages of 55 and 64 (18.5 percent), or between the ages of 65 and 74 (1.9 percent). Standing up for youth are the 34 percent of respondents who are between the ages of 35 and 44, the 9.9 percent between the ages of 25 and 34, and the 0.5 percent who are between the ages of 19 and 24.

More than 90 percent of CDPSE 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 CDPSE holders is either a master’s degree (51.2 percent of respondents), bachelor’s degree (31.5 percent), associate’s degree (3.1 percent), professional degree (1.9 percent), or doctorate (2.5 percent). The outliers are the 8.6 percent of those surveyed who exited the realm of formal education after completing some level of post-high school technical training, the 0.6 percent who topped out with a high school diploma, and the 0.6 percent who entered the workforce with no formal education.

A solid 83.6 percent of CDPSE holders who participated in the survey are employed full-time, with 4.6 percent holding part-time jobs, 3.6 percent who are students, 4.1 percent on sabbatical, and 4.1 percent unemployed. Among those with full-time jobs, there’s a strong possibility of some extra hours at work: 37.5 percent of those surveyed work between 41 and 50 hours per week, and 22.5 percent are on the job for more than 50 hours per week. Just 26.3 percent of respondents have a traditional 40-hour work week, while the rest are on the clock either for between 31 and 39 hours per week (10.6 percent), between 20 and 30 hours per week (1.9 percent), or fewer than 20 hours per week (1.2 percent).

In the post-COVID era, nearly half (42 percent) of CDPSE holders who participated in the survey are spending their entire work schedule outside of a traditional office setting, putting in either 40 hours per week at home (17.3 percent) or more than 40 hours per week (24.7 percent). Additionally, 25 percent work from home for either between 31 and 39 hours per week (11.7 percent) or between 21 and 30 hours per week (13.6 percent). The remaining 33 percent of respondents 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 (15.4 percent) or fewer than 10 hours per week (17.3 percent).

In terms of workplace standing, the largest single group of CDPSE holders we heard from are employed at the manager level (30.4 percent). The rest, in descending order, are either senior specialists (20.6 percent), senior managers (16.8 percent), directors (16 percent), executives (8.2 percent), specialists (5 percent), or rank-and-file employees (3 percent).

A substantial 61.3 percent of CDPSE 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 (2.6 percent of respondents), between 3 and 5 years (12.4 percent), between 6 and 8 years (16 percent), or between 9 and 10 years (7.7 percent).

Finally, here’s the view of CDPSE 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: 54.1 percent
Several times a week: 26.8 percent
Several times a month: 10.3 percent
Occasionally: 6.2 percent
Rarely: 2.6 percent‍

Since becoming certified, I feel there is greater demand for my skills.
Strongly agree: 44.3 percent
Agree: 32 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 15.5 percent
Disagree: 2 percent
Strongly Disagree: 6.2 percent‍

Becoming certified has increased my problem-solving skills.
Strongly agree: 29.9 percent
Agree: 40.7 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 18.6 percent
Disagree: 6.8 percent
Strongly Disagree: 4 percent

‍Becoming certified has increased my workplace productivity.
Strongly agree: 26.5 percent
Agree: 36 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 25.3 percent
Disagree: 6.2 percent
Strongly Disagree: 6.2 percent

PAST CDPSE DEEP FOCUS FEATURES

2022

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