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 These posts contain previously unpublished Salary Survey data.

There's a lot of data to sift through at the end of one of our Salary Surveys, and usually not very much time to sift through it all. Occasionally, mistakes happen. We found one this week while eyeballing the 2019 Salary Survey 75 list to pin down a likely candidate for this week's Deep Focus installment.

In the course of compiling the Salary Survey 75, we listed the same average annual salary (among U.S. survey respondents) for both the VMware Certified Professional (VCP) 6 - Data Center Virtualization and VMware Certified Associate (VCA) 6 - Data Center Virtualization credentials. That number — $108,540 — is correctly aligned with the VCA 6-DCV credential.

The error is that VMware Certified Professional (VCP) 6 - Data Center Virtualization actually has a much higher average annual salary among U.S. survey respondents: $126,880. Whoops. We regret the error. The new math bumps VCP 6-DCV all the way up to No. 24, 20 spots above its previous ranking.

Here's what the salary picture looks like for VCP 6-DCV holders who responded to the Salary Survey:

All U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $126,880
Median Annual Salary: $120,000
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 15 percent
Very Satisfied: 10 percent
Satisfied: 60 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 10 percent
Not At All Satisfied: 5 percent

All Non-U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $65,520
Median Annual Salary: $70,000
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 16.7 percent
Very Satisfied: [No responses]
Satisfied: 33.3 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 33.3 percent
Not At All Satisfied: 16.7 percent

The largest single body of VCP 6-DCV holders to participate in the survey is made up of U.S. residents (56.1 percent), but we also heard from credential holders in 14 other countries: Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Denmark, France, India, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.

All of the VCP 6-DCV holders who responded to the survey are men — we didn't hear from a single female credential holder. We also didn't hear from very many folks who could still be considered to be in the bloom of youth. The youngest VCP 6-DCV holders to weigh in are the 13.2 percent of respondents who are between the ages of 25 and 34. Almost everyone else is middle aged, either between the ages of 35 and 44 (34.2 percent of those surveyed) or between the ages of 45 and 54 (44.7 percent), with a smattering of old timers checking in either between the ages of 55 and 64 (5.3 percent) or between the ages of 65 and 74 (2.6 percent).

More than 80 percent of the VCP 6-DCV holders who participated in the survey have an educational background that includes time spent at a college or university. The highest level of formal education completed by nearly all VCP 6-DCV holders is either a bachelor's degree (42.1 percent of respondents), master's degree (26.3 percent), associate's degree (7.9 percent), or professional degree (5.3 percent). The outliers are the 15.8 percent of respondents who completed some level or post-high school technical training, and the 2.6 percent who exited the realm of formal education after completing high school.

A solid 92.7 percent of VCP 6-DCV holders who participated in the survey are employed full-time, while the remaining 7.3 percent are presently out of work. Among those who have full-time jobs, most either put in between 41 and 50 hours per week (55.4 percent of those surveyed) or have a standard 40-hour work week (23.6 percent). The rest are either at work more than 50 hours per week (10.5 percent of respondents), or put in between 31 and 39 hours per week (also 10.5 percent).

In terms of workplace standing, the largest single group of VCP 6-DCV holders who responded to the survey are at the senior specialist level (60.5 percent of respondents). The rest, in descending order, are either specialists (16.3 percent of those surveyed), executives (9.2 percent), managers (7 percent), senior managers (4.7 percent), or rank-and-file employees (2.3 percent).

A strong 67.4 percent of the VCP 6-DCV holders we heard from 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 (2.3 percent of respondents), between 3 and 5 years (7 percent), between 6 and 8 years (16.3 percent), or between 9 and 10 years (7 percent).

Finally, here's the view of VCP 6-DCV 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: 51.2 percent
Several times a week: 30.2 percent
Several times a month: 11.6 percent
Occasionally: 7 percent
Rarely: [No responses]

Since becoming certified, I feel there is greater demand for my skills.
Strongly agree: 34.9 percent
Agree: 41.9 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 18.6 percent
Disagree: 4.6 percent
Strongly Disagree: [No responses]

Becoming certified has increased my problem-solving skills.
Strongly agree: 30.2 percent
Agree: 48.8 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 21 percent
Disagree: [No responses]
Strongly Disagree: [No responses]

Becoming certified has increased my workplace productivity.
Strongly agree: 30.2 percent
Agree: 53.5 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 11.6 percent
Disagree: 4.7 percent
Strongly Disagree: [No responses]