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 These posts contain previously unpublished Salary Survey data.

Computers are everywhere in 2021 — including inside of other computers. That may be where most computers are in the future, actually. Virtualization tends to go hand-in-hand with cloud computing, and cloud computing is increasingly becoming the dominant technology in information technology.

VMware has a dominating position in the virtualization marketplace and its widely respected certifications are highly attractive to employers. One of those credentials, VMware Certified Professional - Data Center Virtualization 2020 landed in a strong position, No. 17, on our most recent Salary Survey 75 list.

Here's what the salary picture looks like for VCP Data Center Virtualization holders who responded to the Salary Survey:

All U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $142,880
Median Annual Salary: $132,500
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 15.4 percent
Very Satisfied: 7.9 percent
Satisfied: 69.2 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 7.5 percent
Not At All Satisfied: [No responses]

All Non-U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $85,670
Median Annual Salary: $86,250
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 7.3 percent
Very Satisfied: 8.1 percent
Satisfied: 53.8 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 30.8 percent
Not At All Satisfied: [No responses]

The largest single body of VCP Data Center Virtualization holders to participate in the survey is made up of U.S. residents (50 percent), but we also heard from credential holders in 11 other countries: Australia, China, France, Hungary, India, Japan, Luxembourg, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam.

All of the VCP Data Center Virtualization holders who responded to the survey are men —not a female in the bunch. In terms of age, these guys are a relatively youthful group: More than 53 percent of respondents are either between the ages of 25 and 34 (15.5 percent) or between the ages of 35 and 44 (38.5 percent), with an additional 30.8 percent who could be called 'youth adjacent' between the ages of 45 and 54. The outliers are the 15.2 percent of those surveyed who are between the ages of 55 and 64.

More than 80 percent of those surveyed have an educational background that includes time spent at a college or university. The highest level of education completed by most VCP Data Center Virtualization holders is either a bachelor's degree (34.6 percent), master's degree (38.5 percent), or associate's degree (7.9 percent). The rest of the credential holders we heard from went no further up the formal education ladder than either to complete some level of post-high school technical training (7.5 percent of respondents), or to graduate from high school (11.5 percent).

A rare 100 percent of VCP Data Center Virtualization holders who responded to the survey are employed full-time — no one is out-of-work or employed part-time. For most survey respondents, full-time employment means either putting in the standard 40 hours per week (34.4 percent of those surveyed) or working between 41 and 50 hours per week (38.7 percent). The outliers are the 19.2 percent of respondents who put in either more than 50 hours per week (19.4 percent of those surveyed), between 31 and 39 hours per week (4.2 percent), or between 20 and 30 hours per week (3.5 percent).

No doubt as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, 57 percent of VCP Data Center Virtualization holders are spending most of those hours waking up and going to work with going out the front door, working from home either 40 hours per week from home (18.5 percent) or more than 40 hours per week (39.3 percent). Most of the other 40-ish percent have at least somewhat crossed over to the new workplace reality, working from home either between 31 and 39 hours per week (4.2 percent of those surveyed), between 21 and 30 hours per week (11.5 percent), or between 10 and 20 hours per week (7.5 percent). Everyone else  15.4 percent of respondents  is mostly locked in at a traditional workplace, working from home fewer than 10 hours per week.

In terms of workplace standing, the largest single group of VCP Data Center Virtualization holders we heard from are employed at the senior specialist level (48.3 percent of those surveyed). The rest, in descending order, are either specialists (20.7 percent), senior managers (10.3 percent), managers (7 percent), directors (6.9 percent), rank-and-file employees (3.5 percent), or executives (3.3 percent).

An impressive 72.5 percent of VCP Data Center Virtualization 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 (3.4 percent of respondents), between 6 and 8 years (also 13.8 percent), or between 9 and 10 years (10.3 percent).

Finally, here's the view of VCP Data Center Virtualization 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: 55.2 percent
Several times a week: 24.1 percent
Several times a month: 13.8 percent
Occasionally: 6.9 percent
Rarely: [No responses]

Since becoming certified, I feel there is greater demand for my skills.
Strongly agree: 34.5 percent
Agree: 55.2 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 3.8 percent
Disagree: 3.4 percent
Strongly Disagree: 3.1 percent

Becoming certified has increased my problem-solving skills.
Strongly agree: 24.1 percent
Agree: 48.3 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 20.7 percent
Disagree: 6.9 percent
Strongly Disagree: [No response]

Becoming certified has increased my workplace productivity.
Strongly agree: 24.1 percent
Agree: 34.5 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 38 percent
Disagree: 3.4 percent
Strongly Disagree: [No response]

PAST VCP DATA CENTER VIRTUALIZATION DEEP FOCUS FEATURES

2020