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 These posts contain previously unpublished Salary Survey data.‍

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Once upon a time, watchmen posted at military camps or fortresses would greet anyone approaching unexpectedly with the challenge, "Who goes there?" That provides a decent analogy for cloud identity management, a software solution that monitors cloud systems and permits or denies access to individual users.

Okta is one of the leading cloud identity management providers, occupying an IT sweet spot where two red-hot skill sets, cloud computing and cybersecurity, come together. Given that combination, certifications like Okta Certified Administrator, No. 5 on our most recent Salary Survey 75 list are almost guaranteed to stand out on an IT résumé.

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

All U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $145,800
Median Annual Salary: $155,000
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 22 percent
Very Satisfied: 34 percent
Satisfied: 40 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 2.1 percent
Not At All Satisfied: 1.9 percent

All Non-U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $82,570
Median Annual Salary: $75,000
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 17.9 percent
Very Satisfied: 21.4 percent
Satisfied: 28.6 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 14.2 percent
Not At All Satisfied: 17.9 percent

The largest single body of Okta Certified Administrator holders to participate in the survey is made up of U.S. residents (64.1 percent), but we also heard from credential holders in 13 other countries: Afghanistan, Australia, Azerbaijan, Djibouti, France, Germany, India, Japan, Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

A majority of the Okta Certified Administrator holders we heard from are men (64.2 percent of respondents), but the headline news is that nearly one-third of them (32.5 percent) are women. (A further 1.7 percent of those surveyed chose not to identify their gender, while 0.9 percent are transgender female and 0.8 percent are transgender male.) The Okta Certified Administrator crowd is notably younger than a lot of our other survey subgroups, with 2.6 percent of those surveyed between the ages of 19 and 24, 38.5 percent between the ages of 25 and 34, and 30.8 percent between the ages of 35 and 44. The outliers are the 19.2 percent of respondents between the ages of 45 and 54, the 4.9 percent between the ages of 55 and 64, and the 2.6 percent between the ages of 65 and 74.

A bit more than 75 percent of the Okta 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 Okta Certified Administrator holders is either a bachelor's degree (44.9 percent of respondents), master's degree (26.9 percent), doctorate (6.4 percent), or associate's degree (5.1 percent). The rest either topped out with some level or post-high school technical training (6.4 percent) or exited the realm of formal education after completing high school (9 percent).

Okta Certified Administrator hews to a trend has shown up across the spectrum of Salary Survey 75 credentials this year: Just 65 percent of those surveyed are employed full-time, with 12.5 percent employed part-time, 8.3 percent on sabbatical, 5.9 percent who are students, and 8.3 percent who are out of work. For most, full-time employment means working either a standard 40-hours work week (43.4 percent of those surveyed) or putting in between 41 and 50 hours per week (33 percent). A hard-charging 10.5 percent work more than 50 hours per week, while 7.9 percent are on the clock for between 31 and 39 hours per week. The remaining roughly 5 percent are evenly divided between those whose full-time work week consists of either between 20 and 30 hours per week or fewer than 20 hours per week.

Quite a few Okta Certified Administrator holders are spending all or most of those full-time hours in a familiar setting: 63 percent of those surveyed are handling their entire work schedule without every leaving the house, putting in either 40 hours per week from home (35.9 percent) or more than 40 hours per week from home (27 percent). In the middle are the 12.8 percent of respondents who work from home between 31 and 39 hours per week from home, and the 14.1 percent who work from home between 20 and 30 hours per week. Just 10 percent are doing most of their work in a more traditional office setting, work from home either between 10 and 20 hours per week (5.1 percent) or for fewer than 10 hours per week (also 5.1 percent).

In terms of workplace standing, the largest single group of Okta Certified Administrator holders we heard from are at the senior specialist level (33.5 percent of those surveyed). The rest, in descending order, are either managers (17.5 percent of respondents), rank-and-file employees (15.8 percent), specialists or senior managers (both 13.3 percent), directors (5.8 percent), or executives (0.8 percent).

A little less than one-third (28.5 percent) of the Okta Certified Administrator holders who responded to the survey are budding IT journeymen, having worked in a role that directly utilizes one or more of their certified skills for between 3 and 5 years. The rest have been plying their certified skills for either between zero years (1 to 11 months) and 2 years (20 percent of respondents), between 6 and 8 years (25.8 percent), between 9 and 10 years (6.7 percent), or more than a decade (19.2 percent).

Finally, here's the view of Okta 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: 40 percent
Several times a week: 28.3 percent
Several times a month: 15 percent
Occasionally: 7.5 percent
Rarely: 9.2 percent

Since becoming certified, I feel there is greater demand for my skills.
Strongly agree: 36.7 percent
Agree: 35 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 10 percent
Disagree: 8.3 percent
Strongly Disagree: 10 percent

Becoming certified has increased my problem-solving skills.
Strongly agree: 35 percent
Agree: 28.3 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 15.8 percent
Disagree: 9.2 percent
Strongly Disagree: 11.7 percent

Becoming certified has increased my workplace productivity.
Strongly agree: 30 percent
Agree: 34.2 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 16.7 percent
Disagree: 11.6 percent
Strongly Disagree: 7.6 percent

PAST OKTA CERTIFIED ADMINISTRATOR DEEP FOCUS FEATURES

2022

2019

2018

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