IT salary survey: Not all technical certs created equal

Some technology certifications don't land you more pay; multitasking is critical and IT worker salaries are up slightly from a year ago, according to a survey by Global Knowledge and our sister site TechRepublic.

The survey surfaces a bevy of key points (see PDF download), but for me it all comes down to following the money.

At a high level, that average IT salary was up 3.25 percent to $73,963. Eighty percent of the 7,193 IT workers surveyed got a raise, but the average salary increase was 4 percent compared to 5 percent a year ago.

How exactly do you increase your salary? Or at least stay relevant? The common view is that additional certifications get you more dollars as 65 percent of respondents said training was needed to acquire new skills and knowledge. However, more than half of respondents indicated that certifications had no impact on their salary. In many respects, you may need additional certifications to keep your job.

Nevertheless, you need to choose your certifications wisely. Not all are created equal.

This chart shows the salary disparity among certs:

Obviously if you want to get ahead project management training is your ticket. It also doesn't hurt to know Cisco gear, Microsoft and Red Hat. This points to a common theme. IT workers need to be versatile because in most companies you're melding communications, Windows and Linux. There are few one vendor shops out there.