CompTIA conducted a survey of employers to better understand their attitude toward IT certifications when hiring. Here’s a summary of their findings:

  • Two-thirds of employers use IT certifications to distinguish between equally qualified candidates.
  • 72% of employers require certification for certain job roles.
  • 60% of organizations use IT certifications to validate a job candidate’s subject matter knowledge.
  • Two-thirds of employers think IT certifications very valuable – in 2011 this number was only 30%!

So, if IT certifications are desired, which ones do employers value the most? Here’s the list we compiled from various sources – in no particular order.

  • Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control
  • Citrix Certified Enterprise Engineer for Virtualization
  • Check Point Certified Security Administrator
  • Certified Information Security Manager
  • CompTIA Security +
  • TOGAF 9 Certified
  • Certified Information Systems Security Professional
  • GIAC Certified Windows Security Administrator
  • Certified Information Systems Auditor
  • Project Management Professional
  • Certified Computer Examiner
  • VMWare Certified Design Expert – Cloud
  • VMWare Certified Professional – Data Center Virtualization
  • VMWare Certified Design Expert 5 – Data Center
  • Cisco Certified Design Associate
  • Cisco Certified Network Associate Wireless
  • AWS Certified SysOps Administrator-Associate (Cloud)
  • AWS Certified Developer
  • CyberSecurity Forensic Analyst
  • CCNP Routing and Switching
  • E-C Council Certified Security Analyst
  • Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer
  • Microsoft Certified Solution Developer: Applications Lifecycle Management
  • Mongo DB Certified DBA
  • Lean Sigma Six
  • ITIL v3 Foundation
  • Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT
  • Certified Ethical Hacker
  • Certified ScrumMaster (Scrum Alliance)
  • Certified Novell Engineer
  • Juniper Networks Certified Associate - Junos

Remember, this is only a partial list – and no list of desired certifications stays fresh for very long as technologies and markets quickly evolve. Keep in mind that the value of a certification is not set in stone. Do your homework before deciding on which certification(s) to pursue.