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 These posts contain previously unpublished Salary Survey data.

The Windows operating system distributed by Microsoft is the interface through which many (if not most) people interact with their laptop or desktop computer. Microsoft Server is like Windows for servers, the behind-the-scenes heavy-lifting machines (or virtual machines) that provide "services" to a network of "clients," or individual computers or devices.

The Server Pro: Install and Storage certification (No. 69 one our most recent Salary Survey 75 list) offered by training and certification provider TestOut is one of a trio of credentials that teach and verify Windows Server fluency. The other two are Server Pro: Identity and Server Pro: Networking.

Here's what the salary picture looks like for the Server Pro: Install and Storage holders who responded to the Salary Survey:

All U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $66,250
Median Annual Salary: $68,750
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 10 percent
Very Satisfied: 19.9 percent
Satisfied: 28.2 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 41.9 percent
Not At All Satisfied: [No responses]

Though there are non-U.S. credential holders, TestOut certifications are most widely deployed in the United States, so the Server Pro: Install and Storage survey data discussed here doesn't take other countries into account.

Most of those who responded to the survey (82 percent of respondents) are men, though we did hear from a number of women. The Server Pro: Install and Storage holders we heard from are a relatively youthful group, with 70 percent of those surveyed younger than 45, either between the ages of 19 and 24 (10.1 percent), between the ages of 25 and 34 (30.7 percent), or between the ages of 35 and 44 (29.3 percent). The remaining 30 percent of respondents are either between the ages of 45 and 54 (9.9 percent) or between the ages of 55 and 64 (20 percent).

Almost all of the Server Pro: Install and Storage 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 Server Pro: Install and Storage holders is either a bachelor's degree (40.8 percent of respondents), master's degree (39.2 percent), or associate's degree (10.5 percent). The outliers are the 9.5 percent of those surveyed who exited the realm of formal education after completing high school.

More than 90 percent of those Server Pro: Install and Storage holders who participated in the survey have full-time jobs, with 9.1 percent of those surveyed presently unemployed. Among those who have full-time jobs, most have either a standard 40-hour work week (40 percent of respondents) or are on the clock for between 41 and 50 hours per week (39.2 percent). That leaves roughly 21 percent of those surveyed who are either at work for more than 50 hours per week (10.8 percent) or for between 31 and 39 hours per week (10 percent).

It has gradually become somewhat common in the IT industry to work from home, but this may not be the certification to pursue if that represents your dream employment situation: more than 61 percent of those surveyed work from home fewer than 10 hours per week, and a further 20 percent are at the home office no more than between 10 and 20 hours per week. That leaves just under 20 percent of respondents who either work entirely (the 9.2 percent whose total home work hours per week are an even 40) or mostly (the 9.2 percent whose total home work hours per week are between 31 and 39) from home.

In terms of workplace standing, the largest single group of Server Pro: Install and Storage holders we heard from are employed at the rank-and-file employee level (54.5 percent of those surveyed). The rest, in descending order, are either senior specialists (19.1 percent of respondents), managers (17.3 percent), or specialists (9.1 percent).

A sizable chunk of the Server Pro: Install and Storage holders who responded to the survey — 36.3 percent of them — are at least somewhat experienced, 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 (18.2 percent of respondents), between 6 and 8 years (27.3 percent), or more than a decade (also 18.2 percent).

Finally, here's the view of Server Pro: Install and Storage 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: 36.4 percent
Several times a week: 10 percent
Several times a month: 18.1 percent
Occasionally: 27.3 percent
Rarely: 8.2 percent

Since becoming certified, I feel there is greater demand for my skills.
Strongly agree: 18.9 percent
Agree: 63.6 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 17.5 percent
Disagree: [No responses]
Strongly Disagree: [No responses]

Becoming certified has increased my problem-solving skills.
Strongly agree: 27.4 percent
Agree: 54.4 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 9 percent
Disagree: 9.2 percent
Strongly Disagree: [No responses]

Becoming certified has increased my workplace productivity.
Strongly agree: 27.7 percent
Agree: 54 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 9.4 percent
Disagree: 9.9 percent
Strongly Disagree: [No responses]

PAST TESTOUT SERVER PRO DEEP FOCUS FEATURES

2017