This feature first appeared in the Summer 2016 issue of Certification Magazine. Click here to get your own print or digital copy.

While there are more than a few wet-behind-the-ears billionaires in the IT realm, the youth movement hasn't yet taken over the virtualization sector. The likelihood of settling into a virtualization career is definitely higher if you're (hopefully) a few years removed from living in the basement and playing video games.

A little more than half of all survey respondents (52.9 percent) are between the ages of 35 and 44, with the next largest group (26.5 percent) falling between the ages of 45 and 54. That's four-fifths of our survey population right there.

Young bucks are barely accounted for, with just three percent of respondents between the ages of 19 and 24, while six percent are between the ages of 25 and 34. The rest, nearly 12 percent, are eyeing retirement somewhere between the ages of 55 and 64.

Speaking of "barely accounted for," it would seem that virtualization is one of those IT realms that, like Mars, needs women — in a major way. An overwhelming 97.1 percent of those surveyed are men.

Among other characteristics, virtualization certification carries a strong likelihood of being rooted in higher education. The highest level of education completed by many respondents (41.2 percent) is a bachelor's degree, while 26.5 percent have surpassed that benchmark with a master's degree.

There is a small population (11.8 percent) who claim no further education than a high school diploma, while a slightly larger segment (14.7 percent) topped out with technical training, and almost six percent have a 2-year college degree.

The global workforce has taken an up-and-down ride the past few years, but there's a very high degree of stability in virtualization. A potent 91 percent of survey respondents are employed full-time. Which doesn't mean, necessarily, that you should plan on the standard 40-hour work week if you're thinking about a virtualization career.

There's a strong core of survey respondents (32.4 percent) whose normal work week is 40 hours, but the largest single body of respondents (35.3 percent) puts in between 41 and 50 hours per week. The next-largest group (20 percent) work between 31 and 39 hours per week.

Virtualization employment is by no means exclusive to large companies, though mega-employers do claim a considerable share of the available talent. Roughly 24 percent of those surveyed have more than 10,000 coworkers, while an additional 32 percent work at firms where the total headcount falls between 5,001 and 10,000 (17.6 percent), or between 1,001 and 5,000 (14.7 percent).

The rest are scattered across the mid-size and small business spectrum, with a particularly notable group (18 percent) employed at firms with between 51 and 200 employees.

Per the norm, we also asked survey respondents to sound off about a range of topics not directly connected — not connected at all, really — to virtualization. That's how we know, for example, that 20 percent of all virtualization professionals think Hulk would be the winner if all of the Marvel Comics superheroes got together to have a fight. Keep an eye on CertMag.com all summer long to find out who else has got significant backing, as well as glean additional insight on other survey matters both wacky and weighty.

TABLE TALK : So you want to get a virtualization job. What are the best places to look?