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MCT Salary Survey
By PrepMasters
If you are thinking of pursuing a Microsoft Certified Trainer certification, you may be wondering whether it will be worth the trouble and expense.
Redmond's 10th annual salary survey sheds some light on this. Although the survey covered IT professions in general, its findings are relevant to anyone entering the IT trainer field, including those considering pursuing MCT certification.
Your first question may be, "How much do Microsoft Certified Trainers make?" In the salary survey, the respondents reported making an average of $76,000 or so. This was significantly more than the average wage of all trainers, who only reported an average of $57,197.
Was the Microsoft Certified Trainer certification solely responsible for this salary increase of almost $20,000? It undoubtedly contributed. But also keep in mind that many people who are possess the MCT certification possess multiple certifications. So remember that although a Microsoft Certified Trainer certification can certainly help your chances at that high-paying job, it might not bring you all the way up to that $76K mark.
Other factors that affect salary
In your pursuit of that "fat" trainer salary, Redmond's 2005 IT salary survey revealed that the following would also be helpful:
• Look for a company that positions itself as being on the cutting edge. They tend to appreciate professionals who stay up-to-date.
• Having multiple skills and multiple certifications helps.
• Live in Maryland. Their IT professionals average over $90K/year. And in general, the mid-Atlantic region earns more than the other areas of the U.S.
• Don't relocate to Arkansas. Their IT professionals average less than $52K/year.
• If you live near Boston, D.C., New York City, or San Francisco, you're lucky. The IT professionals in these big cities hover near $90K on the average.
• Head for management. Managers average a good $20K more than non-supervisory professionals.
• Specialize in something exotic. Rather than limiting you, specializing in an uncommon area actually opens you up to a limited but generally underserved set of companies. If you specialize in their small area, you will have an edge over all of the generalists applying for the same job.
• Get a graduate degree. Professionals with graduate training enjoyed slightly higher average salaries (about $6K more).
• If you are a woman, you may want to consider a sex-change operation. Men in IT professions earn an average of $6K a year more than women. Okay, it's probably not worth it...
• Stay in the field a while. Earnings go up with experience. The highest-paid IT professionals (those who earned in excess of $125K/year) generally had many years of experience... But some had no certifications.
The moral of the story: for a trainer, MCT certification pays off greatly and should be a big first priority. But don't rely solely on the certification to land you a huge salary.
After getting MCT certification, continue to make yourself more marketable in other ways. Multiple skills, multiple certifications, specialization, a graduate degree, and years of experience will combine with your Microsoft Certified Trainer certification to maximize your earning potential.
About the Author
www.prepmasters.com
Article Source: http://www.simplysearch4it.com/author-articles/11237/1.html
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