Salary Woes for Cisco Pros
6/3/2002 -- Think you'll make six-figures as a Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE)? Think again. According to TCPMag.com's second annual salary survey, released last week, the average salary for CCIEs dropped 21 percent between 2000 and 2001, from $115,000 to $91,000.
The news isn't good for those with other Cisco titles, although the decline isn't quite as steep: Average salaries for those holding CCNAs are down 8 percent, CCNPs 7 percent and CCDAs 6 percent. The only Cisco title to see a rise was the mid-level CCDP, with a modest 1.5 percent increase:
| Title |
2001
Average Salary*
|
2000
Average Salary* |
Change
(+/-) |
Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert
(CCIE) |
$91,000 |
$115,00 |
- 21% |
Cisco Certified Design Professional
(CCDP) |
$80,000 |
$79,000 |
+ 1/5% |
| Cisco Qualified Specialist -- Security |
$80,000 |
N/A** |
N/A** |
| Cisco Qualified Specialist -- IT Telephony |
$78,000 |
N/A** |
N/A** |
| Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) |
$74,000 |
$79,000 |
- 6% |
Cisco Certified Design Associate
(CCDA) |
$70,000 |
$74,000 |
- 5% |
Cisco Certified Network Associate
(CCNA) |
$64,000 |
$70,000 |
- 9% |
|
*Results rounded to the nearest thousand
** Certification debuted in 2001. |
Dian Schaffhauser, editorial director of TCPMag.com (as well as this site and MCPMag.com), said that the decline is a reflection of the overall economic climate. "Across the board we're seeing softer salaries," she said. "We're just now evaluating the results for our annual Microsoft Certified Professional salary survey, and we expect we'll see softer numbers there as well."
According to Schaffhauser, the growing popularity of certification is also having an impact. "Certification has become a requirement for the job in many cases," she continued. "I think what we're going to see is that experience is really what will make the difference when it comes to salary negotiation. Certification is less of a factor."
TCPMag.com will be posting information about the above averages and how they relate to the experience levels of those reporting them over the next few weeks. In the meantime, to see the initial results of the survey as well as what Cisco professionals expect for 2002, go to http://TCPMag.com/salarysurveys/. - B.N.
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