6 Top Paying IT Certifications

It is becoming increasingly common for recruiters and employers to consider official certifications as mandatory requirements for many job roles. This is especially true of the Information Technology industry which hold our list of top paying IT certifications.

Whether you are new to the IT field, or a professional with years of experience, gaining official certifications will boost your CV and increase your chances of securing the job that can lead to a rewarding and successful career. An investment in your personal career development through high quality online training will provide you with far greater opportunities.

Below we will take a brief look at 6 top paying IT certifications, the average salaries associated with them and what they entail.

CCDA (Cisco Certified Design Associate) – £50 000

The CCDA certification from Cisco is generally aimed at network design engineers, technicians and support technicians.

This official CCDA certification course will provide you with the knowledge and skills that are required to design basic campus, data centre, security, voice and wireless networks. It will also enable you to design routed and switched network infrastructures and services.

Some of the course topics are:

• Design networks for voice transport
• Evaluate security solutions for networks
• Design IP addressing for networks
• Structure networks

CCNP (Cisco Certified Network Professional) – £50 000

The CCNP certification from Cisco targets those with an interest in becoming a network engineer, systems engineer or support engineer.

The official CCNP certification will teach you to plan, implement, verify and troubleshoot local and area-wide enterprise networks. The skills and knowledge gained from this qualification will prepare you to work efficiently on advanced security, voice, video and wireless solutions.

Some of the topics covered include:

• Troubleshooting router features
• Configuring and verifying VLANs
• Troubleshooting security issues
• Implementing network and routing concepts

CEH (Certified Ethical Hacker) – £55 750

The EC-Council’s CEH certification is for those who wish to pursue a career as an IT security specialist, cyber security consultant or information security professional.

The CEH qualification was created, and is managed, by The International Council of E-Commerce (EC-Council) and aims to teach the techniques and methods that are used to search for weaknesses and vulnerabilities within information systems. It is of great importance to organisations that their data be protected from threats and attacks.

CEH course topics include:

• Viruses and worms
• Penetration testing
• Scanning networks
• Hacking wireless networks

CISM (Certified Information Security Manager) – £60 000

ISACA’s official CISM certification is generally sought by those who are looking to become a security engineer, security specialist or security architect.

This official certification is one of the most valuable credentials in the IT Security field. The course focuses on security strategy, assessing security system, analysing security policies and security management.

Included in the course topics are:

• Incident management and response
• Risk management
• Information security program implementation
• Information security governance

CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) – £60 000

The CISSP certification from (ISC)² is usually aimed at those with intentions of becoming a security architect, security engineer or cyber security consultant.

The official CISSP certification will provide the skills and knowledge needed to analyse security risks, plan for disaster recovery, minimise system vulnerability and become adept at the most critical topics in the IT security field. The CISSP qualification has a broad focus and covers many areas of cyber security in a single certification.

Some of the areas covered are:

• Application security
• Information risk management
• Access control
• Telecommunications security

ISA (Certified Information Systems Auditor) – £60 000

Brought to you by ISACA, the CISA certification is generally sought by those who are looking to work in the field of Information Systems; such as control, assurance and security professionals.

The official CISA certification will teach you to manage vulnerabilities, ensure compliance and institute the required controls with an organisation or enterprise. This qualification also enables the auditing, monitoring, controlling and assessing of IT and business systems.

Some of the topics covered include:

• Maintenance of information systems
• IT governance
• Protection of information assets
• IT management

Regardless of which IT area you choose to specialise in, it is an industry that is continually on the increase. With the advancements in modern technology, there are very few businesses and organisations that function without at least some level of IT system. This assures relative job security as there is always going to be the need for qualified IT workers. Give your career a boost and gain the certifications that will demonstrate your abilities to current, or future, employers.

ITonlinelearning will cater for all your IT training to reach top paying IT certifications.