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 These posts contain previously unpublished Salary Survey data.

The idea of an MVP, or most valuable player, is long-lived in team sports. The people (usually sportswriters) who determine the MVP of a given professional sport, frequently obsess about what it means to be "more valuable" than anyone else in the game, and there are often conflicting viewpoints as to which player, in the course of a given season, deserves recognition more than any others.

Similar arguments unfold from time to time in the IT certification realm. Just as sportswriters occasionally come together to unanimously anoint a single player, however, there are IT niches where one certification clearly stands taller than all the rest. Project Management is one such niche, and the Project Management Professional (PMP) credential, curated by the Project Management Institute (PMI), is the clear MVP of project management certification.

PMP's predominance in findings compiled via our recent Salary Survey PLUS, is unmistakable. A striking 44.8 of survey respondents are currently PMP certified, far outclassing every other credential in the survey. PMP is also a clear point of entry to the world of project management for many IT pros, including some who move on to different specializations — PMP was the first project management credential earned by roughly 55 percent of those surveyed.

In the United States, PMP-certified individuals have an average annual salary of $132, 220. The average annual salary number for PMPs outside the United States is a less glamorous, though still considerable $68,640. And as you may have gleaned from those interstitial ads we've had scattered around the web for the past couple of months, PMP certification carries a pretty impressive likelihood of employment. A perfect 100 percent of PMP-certified individuals who responded to our survey are employed full-time.

There's a strong correlation between higher education and PMP certification. Roughly 70 percent of PMP-certified survey respondents hold a four-year college degree, and about three-fifths of those individuals also have doctorate degrees or master's degrees. There's also a lot more gender balance in this realm than in most others in IT: A strong 38 percent of PMP-certified survey respondents are women.

PMP certification is also good preparation for real-world project management, as PMP-certified individuals tend to rely heavily on skills learned from certification: 54 percent of those surveyed use skills "learned or enhance through certification" several times a day, while an additional 23 percent reap that benefit either several times a week (15.6 percent) or several times a month (7.4 percent).

Congratulations, PMP. When it comes to project management, you're our MVC (Most Valuable Certification).

MAD ABOUT MUPPETS Speaking, as we were, of being the "top" contributor from a given class, does anybody not love the Muppets? Actually, yes, some people do not. (More about that in a moment.) But who is the most important Muppet? The one who holds the entire clan together, who lays it on the line every time, whether in movies, at Disneyland, or on television?

Hi-ho, it's actually not Kermit the Frog. To be fair, we didn't ask survey respondents to name the best Muppet, or even their favorite Muppet (or at least not precisely that). The Not-So-Serious matter we set out to determine is which Muppet inspires the strongest direct connection. Which Muppet really hits people where they live? Here's what we learned:

Animal. Just ... Animal. 23.1 percent
Kermit. It's not easy being green. — 19.1 percent
If the Muppets are owned by Disney, then why can't I vote for Chewbacca or Beast from the X-Men? 15.4 percent
Gonzo. Nothing ever works out quite the way I plan it, either. — 14.7 percent
Muppets are dumb. — 10 percent
Beaker — 8.4 percent
That one guy who is Beaker's boss — 7 percent
The old farts are named Statler and Waldorf. Sheesh! Idiots. — 2.3 percent

Not Receiving Votes:
Fozzie Bear. Because, "Wocka, wocka, wocka!"
Miss Piggy. I'm fabulous, I always get what I want, and interspecies marriage is cool with me.
Rowlf. Except that I'm all thumbs when I try to play the piano.
The old farts who sit in the balcony and heckle everyone.
Sam the Eagle
The Muppet Newsman
Robin the Frog
Wait. There's another frog other than Kermit?!
Oh my gosh. 20th Century Fox controls the X-Men.Duh.
You left out (minor character that no one cares about).He/she is my favorite!