Pay rates for certified IT workers are dropping

[ultrafilter]

So much for the value of certifications:

Continuing a recent trend, the average pay for IT workers with technical certifications continued to drop in the last quarter by an average of 2%, while pay for noncertified IT workers rose by an average of 1.4%, according to a study done by IT workforce research firm Foote Partners LLC.

The 2% drop for certified IT workers was the largest quarterly decline since 2004, according to the 22-page study, which was released Wednesday.

So what can you do to make yourself more valuable?

It’s not enough, he said, for IT workers today to just possess the technical skills needed to do their jobs. Possessing better skills in working with colleagues and having a better understanding of the business and market are growing in importance.

[TroubleAgain]

I coulda told you that second part. Unless your technical specialty is so incredibly difficult to find, my company will always prefer someone who’s more, you know, well rounded. Actual people skills, communication skills, an understanding of the business you’re supporting…

[RTFirefly]

Front-page headline from Saturday’s WaPo:

Jobless Rate Is Lowest Since '01
Unemployment Declines to 4.4%, Fans Inflation Fears

Seems like there are overlapping alternate universes here.

[friedo]

Most IT certifications are pretty useless. The ones that matter are the ones that are really hard to get and actually require years of study – stuff like the advanced Cisco or Oracle certs.

I can’t tell you the number of cretins who have sent me resumes attesting to their Brainbench certifications in Apache configuration files. Gimme a feckin’ break.

[Crescend]

@friedo

Most IT certifications are pretty useless. The ones that matter are the ones that are really hard to get and actually require years of study – stuff like the advanced Cisco or Oracle certs.

A+ certification: “High School kid who likes to putz around with computers.”
MCSE certification: “My company makes us all take the classes.”
CCIE certification: “I can beat a server room into shape with nothing but a whip and a chair.”

[gonzomax]

The LA Times did a study. They found that when you include the people whos unemployment ran out and are still looking the stats are 50% higher than stated.
In our company the IT work was shipped abroad. Went from 41 to 3 overnight.The jobs to be outsourced are the ones that demand high pay. Engineering,computer Medical all going away to the lower rate of pay. They maintain a skeleton crew.

[Bongmaster]

@gonzomax

The LA Times did a study. They found that when you include the people whos unemployment ran out and are still looking the stats are 50% higher than stated.
In our company the IT work was shipped abroad. Went from 41 to 3 overnight.The jobs to be outsourced are the ones that demand high pay. Engineering,computer Medical all going away to the lower rate of pay. They maintain a skeleton crew.

This is the very thing that scares me…almost makes me want to get into a new line of work entirely. If only I had some other marketable skills…

[Harriet_the_Spry]

@gonzomax

The LA Times did a study. They found that when you include the people whos unemployment ran out and are still looking the stats are 50% higher than stated.

I think you have this not quite right. When they measure unemployment rates, that is different from measuring who receives unemployment benefits. After all, if you quit voluntarily, or if you’ve never held a job, you don’t get unemployment benefits. When they measure unemployment they ask if you have looked for work in the past 30 (? not exactly sure on the # of days) days. If you say no, you are not counted as unemployed. That may mean you are a happy homemaker or a student, or it may mean you are a “discouraged worker” who has given up after repeatedly trying and failing to find a job. These discouraged workers are probably what you are referring to. So, yeah, the reported unemployment rate understates it a bit, but it would overstate it to include every homemaker and student and retiree in there.