Certification Watch (Vol. 20, No. 19)

Written by GoCertify Staff

Published: 10 May 2017

In this week's roundup of the latest IT certification news, CompTIA touts the top tech-attuned traits of IT MVPs, ISACA takes a brief detour into the murky reaches of the darknet and deep web, and more.

Are You the IT MVP of Your Workplace?

Working in IT is all about agility and adaptability. There are probably tech jobs where you do the same thing over and over again, essentially functioning day after day as a round peg in a round hole. That's not where the action is, however, and probably not where the good salaries are, either. To get an MVP-caliber salary, you need to become an MVP-caliber performer. Fortunately, blogger Charles Eaton has a three-point formula to help IT pros up their game, posted this week at the IT Career News blog maintained by IT industry association CompTIA. For example, if you aren't already a problem solver — someone who looks at tech challenges from different angles and is willing to consider a variety of solutions — then you need to start viewing workplace problems as opportunities to creatively succeed. Eaton likens excellence in tech to excellence in professional basketball, so if you've been avidly following the NBA playoffs, then you have one more reason to check out his advice.

Certification Cheaters Never Prosper

From time to time, almost any busy IT professional contemplating a certification has probably thought about what materials might be out there that could, um, simplify the study and/or testing process. There's good reason to stop right there, should you ever find yourself so inclined, and not just because of potential damage to your own IT ambitions. As noted this week at the IT Insights Blog run by certification and training provider TestOut, cheating does harm beyond just stunting your professional growth. Certification providers also have reason to monitor cheaters and potential cheaters closely, and now there's a new tool to both simplify and strengthen that vigilance. The IT Certification Council has developed a new "incident matrix" to help certification providers protect their intellectual property and preserve the integrity of their tests. The matrix itself is available only to ITCC members, but you can get a sense of what if offers by hitting the aforelinked ITCC blog entry.

IAPP Releases Results of Privacy Professionals Salary Survey

While recent action is Congress is shrinking the online privacy protections available to U.S. citizens, there's still a high degree of sensitivity to what we share and how we share it while engaged in various internet-driven activities. So much so, that the job market for privacy protection professionals is booming. According to results of the 10th annual salary survey conducted by the International Association of Privacy Professionals, both median and average pay for privacy professionals ticked up in 2017. That and a great deal of other information is included in an executive summary of data gathered in the survey. The IAPP's Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP) credential was No. 2 on the Salary Survey 75 list drafted this year by Certification Magazine.