A career in IT is barely restricted to limited outdated skills. Those within the field are constantly in the process of learning and growth. Certifications and additional skill sets have become the norm for employers within the sector. A reputed, quality, professional and technical certification brings recognition before your employer and enhances better income prospects for you. It is also a great start to build networks, professional credibility, job opportunities, and qualifications.
The certifications include topics such as cloud computing, networking, management and many more. Here we enlist the most valuable IT certifications that can be pursued by a candidate.
Google Certified Professional Cloud Architect
This is one of the highest paying certifications that validates professionals as cloud architects for the Google Cloud Platform. It involves the know-how of the Google cloud technologies to design, manage and develop cloud architecture.
The certification advocates for professionals to work and understand the ideal solutions to a particular situation. The specifics with regard to the usage of the product are not the primal focus.
Project Management Professional (PMP)
This PMI developed certification is a must for project managers.
It validates the efficiency of a project manager to strategies and execute her plans and builds credibility amongst clients and employers in terms of knowledge and experience of the project manager.
Eligibility
The certification depends on the performance in the test and the training you have. The qualifying criteria include a minimum of 35 hours PMP training and further for those without a bachelor’s degree at least 7500 hours of experience as project managers are a must. For those with higher education qualifications, the criteria is a minimum of 4500 hours of experience as project managers. The certification can be applied for at the PMI site.
Updating Certification
The maintenance of the once attained certification, you need 60 professional development units in a span of each three years.
AWS Certified Developer Associate
The certification qualifies you for experience and knowledge with the technologies and applications of the Amazon Web Services. The certification examines your expertise on the software development kits (SDKs) of the platform, application security knowledge, and understanding of the AWS services for particular apps.
The certification has excellent salary prospects.
Eligibility
The exam requires you to have a minimum of one year of hands-on experience with AWS and expertise over at least one advanced programming language. The test is a multiple choice paper for 80 minutes.
Read more about AWS Certifications here
Certified in Risk an Information System Control (CRISC)
The four hours long test for the CRISC certification examines a candidate’s skills with regard to reporting, identification, mitigation, assessment, control monitoring, assessment, and response.
The exam includes 150 questions that judge risk management tactics.
Eligibility
It only requires you to have a minimum of three years of relevant experience in any of the two domains out of the four to apply for the certification. The prerequisite experience shall be within the preceding decade to when you undertake the exam. Or else it may lie at most in the five years after the exam. The certification, should it be attained, remains valid up to three years.
Updating Certification
For renewal of the certification, you need to maintain 120 continuing education credits in the three years term. Further, to maintain the validity of the certification, should it be acquired, you must maintain Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits each year.
Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)
The Certified Ethical Hacker is an entry-level certification into cybersecurity. It can be valid to any person from security officers, auditors to IT workers. The certification tests a candidate’s ability to identify system vulnerabilities by the means of hacking techniques and determine the threat to a firm’s systems and networks. It is most valuable for penetration testing jobs. The utility of CEHs lies both in premise and cloud platforms. The certification exam extends to the tools, programs, and systems and keeps revising with the development in the hacking methods. It also evaluates the ethics, procedures undertaken and methodology of a candidate.
Certified Information System Security Professional (CISSP)
CISSP validates security expertise and is a crucial certification in the opinion of IT personnel with regard to its demand and functionality certification focuses on eight domains of value. This includes security, risk management, engineering, security asset, software development, communication, network security, security architecture, access management, security operations, testing, and identity.
Eligibility
The certification demands a candidate to have at least five years of professional paid experience in at least two of the eight domains of CISSP. For those lacking the experience, you can apply for the (ISC)2 Associate designation and eventually complete the certification. You would be given a six years term to suffice the necessary experience.
Updating Certification
For maintaining the validity of the certification the candidate must gain CPEs each year.
Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)
The certification centers professionals are responsible for the development and management of a firm’s information security.
Eligibility
The certification necessitates a minimum of five years of experience in Information Systems. Of the five years, it is also necessary that at least three years were spent as the security manager. The required experience must lie within the preceding decade when the exam was undertaken or within the five years after the exam was qualified.
AWS Certified Solution Architect Associate
The AWS Certified Solution Architect Associate level exam is a verification of a candidate’s knowledge in the deployment of AWS systems and their designing. The exam extends to the assessment of the choice of AWS services, knowledge of their designs, date ingress and egress within AWS environments, identification of AWS costs, measures for costs regulation.
Eligibility
For achieving this AWS certification a minimum of six months hands-on experience with AWS is required.
Read more about AWS Certifications here
Citrix Certified Associate Virtualisation (CCA-V)
This certification is an entry-level certification for Citrix and is particular to desktop and application administrators. The certification extends to the primary understanding of monitoring, managing, troubleshooting, and maintaining. An upgrade to the Citrix Certified Professional – Virtualization (CCP- V) is profitable in financial terms.
Eligibility
The prerequisite to the certification is a hands-on experience.
CompTIA Security +
CompTIA Security + is a mid-level certification for cybersecurity. The examination objectives focus on the fundamentals of security, operational, network and physical security, comprehension of encryption, secure software development, access control etc.
Eligibility
It is required of an aspirant of this exam to have a minimum of two years experience in IT related security administration. A CompTIA Network+ + certificate would be preferred.
CompTIA Network+
And entry-level certification centered to networking. It engages with networking help desk technicians, infrastructure installers and junior network technicians. Either ethernet or wireless networks, the test examines the thorough knowledge of networks with regard to the installation, troubleshooting, and maintenance. The LAN/ WAN protocols a specifics of network security are also part of the discourse and the qualification of the certification validates this knowledge.
Since it is an entry-level certification, it will be a prerequisite for various other certifications and positions such as Cisco CCNA.
Eligibility
However, for this certification alone, CompTIA A+ certification is a necessary prerequisite.
Cisco Certified Networking Professional (CCNP) Routing and Switching
A network-oriented advanced certification that involves engagement with professionals from security, video solutions, voice, and wireless. A certification is relevant to administrators and network engineers that validates the capability of these individuals to verify, troubleshoot, plan and carry out networks that encompass wide area for enterprises.
The certification is relevant to all possible industries and its demand never seems to curb.
Eligibility
The CCNP certification necessitates CCNA Routing and Switching certification. It requires clearing individual papers for Routing, Switching, and Troubleshooting.
Certified Scrum Master
The Certified ScrumMaster certification is a project Management certification that accounts for the productive, effective and efficient work by the members of a project. The qualification of this certification validates the knowledge and comprehension of the Scrum framework and its implementation. The certification involves a two-day workshop course to be attended and 24- 35 follow up questions for the exam. A highly profitable certification in terms of the salaries it brings.
Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA)
This certification is the touchstone certification of ISACA. The certification deals with information system professionals who assess, monitor and regulate a firm’s business related and IT systems. Also, it helps to determine your ability to assess vulnerabilities and report on compliance procedures.
Eligibility
The prerequisite to the certification is five years of hands-on experience in the field. To maintain the certification CPE credits would need to be earned.
Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT (CGEIT)
The certification is relevant to the ones with advisory, assurance, management roles pertinent to the governance of IT. The domains in focus include strategic management, benefits realization, risk optimization or resource optimization. The certification validates a candidate’s skills with regard to the application of IT governance principles in a professional scenario.
Eligibility
The prerequisite to the certification is a minimum of five years of experience in managing, advisory service, oversight role or the support of IT governance principles in a firm. Experience in more than two domains of CGEIT is required. A year’s experience within an IT governance framework is needed.
Global Information Assurance Certification (GIAC)
GIAC is a security-oriented certification that applies to cyber defense, forensics, incident response, penetration testing, auditing, legal engagement, developer, cyber security management and industrial control systems. The exam includes RealSkillTest™ questions to assess knowledge and experience.
The upgrade to the GIAC certification would be GSE.
Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE) – Server Infrastructure
The certification assesses the knowledge of a candidate in areas of cloud, storage, identity management, networking and systems, and virtualization.
Eligibility
The MCSE certification can only be acquired by those with a previously owned any one of the four MCSA certification availed by Microsoft.
Certified Scrum Developer (CDS) Certification
The certification recognizes candidates with the complete knowledge of the Scrum framework and has expertise and experience with Agile Engineering. Managers of Scrum teams or those switching to Scrum should consider to take this certification.
Eligibility
The candidate would require to have either a certified Scrum MasterTM (A-CSMTM) or Advanced certified Scrum Product OwnerTM (A-CSPOTM) credential
A minimum of 24 months of experience in the job as a Scrum Master would be required.
AWS SysOps Administrator – Associate Certification
The certification is aimed at the knowledge of the AWS cloud platform and how you can manage, deploy and run scalable systems on it. The certification is suitable for system administrators.
The certification is in demand in the tech and telecommunication industries for hiring.
It would assess the knowledge and capability of the candidate to find solutions an run them on AWS platform, basics of the AWS technical essentials, deploy AWS operations and guidance.
Eligibility
Require hands on experience with the AWS cloud technologies.
Read more about AWS Certifications here
Control Objectives for Information and Related Technologies (COBIT® 5)
The certification recognises a candidate’s knowledge of the framework of COBIT 5 for the control and management of Enterprise IT environment.
The certification can be undertaken by professionals in audit, information security, risk management, insurance, compliance and regulatory.
The certification assesses a candidate’s ability to discern frameworks that are effective in the regulation and handling of IT enterprise, knowledge of COBIT and its benefits, practical solutions and how it is executed, awareness of the principles of the certification for improved governance and management of enterprises.
