Information Technology invites you into a lucrative, fulfilling career and getting a certification is a sure-shot way to establish your credibility in the field you want to pursue. Even Google Trends suggests that the interest in IT certifications has gone up by 40% between May and October 2020 alone. Whether it is in Cybersecurity, Web-Development or System Administration, you can rest assured that there are various certifications that will match your career goal. So, the following article aims to give you a quick look at the Top 10 Certifications for 2021.
So this new year, let’s resolve to upskill ourselves with one of the following certifications:
Top 10 Certifications for 2021
- Cybersecurity Certifications
- Cloud Architect Certifications
- Project Management & IT Service Management Certifications
- DevOps Engineer Certifications
- Database Admin Certifications
- Digital Marketing Certifications
- Network Engineer Certifications
- Web Development Certifications
- Big Data Engineer Certifications
- Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Engineer Certifications
If you are a visual learner, you could also refer to our video presentation of the Top 10 Certifications for 2021, too!
So, let’s begin our list of Top 10 Certifications for 2021.
1.Cybersecurity Certifications
As the world grapples with this unprecedented pandemic, working remotely is the new norm. But this brings with it a lot of cyber threats due to remote access to IT infrastructure and use of collaboration tools on endpoint devices. At a time like this cybersecurity certified professionals are the unsung heroes, pivotal against potential cyberattacks ranging from attack mitigation to penetration testing.
Industry recognized Cybersecurity certifications include:
- Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)
- CompTIA Security+
- Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP)
- Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
- Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)
- Global Information Assurance Certification (GIAC)
Professionals in the field make $215,000 in the US or ₹29,00,000 in India from companies such as FireEye, HackerOne, Societe Generale, Dell and NetApp.
2. Cloud Architect Certifications
Over the past decade, no other area of IT has generated as much hype, interest and investment as cloud computing. IDC predicts a five-year growth rate of 22% by next year with public cloud services worth $277B. Cloud is now a permanent fixture for end-users and service providers, as well as organizations of all sizes. This gives rise to a lot of demand and little supply in the market for skilled Cloud Architects.
There are various Cloud Architect certifications to bridge the skill-gap of course. Namely:
- AWS Certified Solutions Architect
- Google Certified Professional Cloud Architect
- Microsoft Certified: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals
- Advanced Certification in Cloud Computing by E&ICT Academy
These certifications are aimed to build professionals who can design, develop, and manage robust, secure, scalable and dynamic cloud solutions to land companies like SAP, Deloitte, Seimens and Red Hat for an average salary of $153,000 in the US or ₹30,00,000 in India.
3. Project Management & IT Service Management Certifications
Global growth in 2021 is projected at 5.4%. Overall, this would leave the GDP some 6.5% lower than in the projections pre-pandemic. In this economic despair, stakeholders and consumers need an assurance that their product is in the hands of someone who can display the experience and expertise to effectively define, plan and deliver their projects. And what better way to show this level of proficiency than a certification.
There are a number of Project Management certifications you could pursue:
- Project Management Professional (PMP)
- PRojects IN Controlled Environments (PRINCE 2)
- Certified Scrum Master (CSM)
- Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL)
- 6 Sigma
- PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)
It will not only prove your competency as a manager but also bump up your annual income up to $143,493 in the US or ₹20,00,000 in India from companies such as Sunsilk, Procter & Gamble, Siemens and Ubisoft.
4. DevOps Engineer Certifications
With the increase in demand for rapid developmental strategies and constant application deployments, the need for skilled DevOps professionals is only going to augment in the coming years. Obtaining a DevOps certification is one way for potential job candidates and employees to validate and demonstrate their skills to gain a competitive edge over others. You can find tool-specific certifications in the market for Jenkins, Puppet, Docker, Kubernetes, Chef, etc.
The top DevOps certifications in the market are the following:
- Azure DevOps Solutions Certification
- AWS DevOps Architect Certification
- Edureka’s DevOps Engineer Masters Program
The average salary for a DevOps Engineer goes up to $155,000 in the US or ₹21,00,000 in India from Multinational Corporations like Honeywell, CISCO, Wipro, IBM, Dell.
5. Database Admin Certifications
In the past three decades, we’ve seen a lot of database platforms come and go, but there’s never been a question that database is a crucial component for all computing tasks. Database certifications may not be as bleeding-edge as cloud computing or computer forensics. That said, savvy, talented and knowledgeable database professionals are always in demand.
A few of the most industry-recognized DBA certifications in the market today are:
- IBM Certified Database Administrator
- Microsoft SQL Server database certification
- Oracle Certified Professional
- SAP HANA
- Salesforce
Companies such as Oracle, IBM, Capgemini and Societe Generale are paying up about $113,000 in the US or ₹15,00,000.
6. Digital Marketing Certifications
Businesses only succeed when they have customers who are buying, which makes digital marketing a key part of any business’s operations. As the field of marketing has changed in the digital age, the need for professionals trained in new skills has grown dramatically. A Digital Marketing Certification is designed to prove your expertise in the essential disciplines such as:
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
- Social Media
- Pay-per-Click (PPC)
- Conversion Optimization
- Web Analytics
- Content Marketing
- Email and Mobile marketing
Although there aren’t any standard bodies of Digital Marketing certification in the field, the most popular ones are the following:
- Google Analytics IQ Certification
- YouTube Certification
- HubSpot Content Marketing Certification
- Edureka’s PG Certification Program in Marketing with Specialization in Digital Marketing
Companies such as Wipro, Honeywell, Cisco, VMWare are hiring Digital Marketing Certified Associates every day for very comfortable incomes.
7. Network Engineer Certifications
Simply put, Network Engineering encompasses the following responsibilities:
- Assess, configure and sustain computer hardware components and operating systems
- Evaluate and alleviate risk
- Analyse and select technologies
- Choose a suitable network design
- Resolve IT problems
You could learn to do all the aforementioned, through a number of Networking certifications like:
- Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA)
- Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP)
- Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA)
- CompTIA Network+
- RedHat Certified Engineer (RHCE)
Once certified, you could land a pretty sweet gig, taking home an average of $143,000 in the US or ₹14,00,000 in India from companies such as Cisco, L&T, Accenture, HCL, Tech Mahindra.
With that, we move on to the final 3 certifications on our Top 10 list of Certifications for the year 2021.
8. Web Development Certifications
Building web experiences for the current generation does require a lot of work in the front end as well as the back end. This can range from developing a single static page of plain text to complex web apps, electronic businesses, and social network services. This makes web development a flourishing career, and certifications in this domain only strengthen your chances at snagging those lucrative job offers.
You could opt to certify yourself in any programming language, such as Python, Angular, React, Node, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, etc or you could opt for the Full-Stack Development Program by Edureka which will enable you to build interactive and responsive web applications using both front-end and back-end technologies.
A great thing about web-dev certifications is that you could be pursuing them, even if you’re a student. Tech giants like Amazon, Facebook, Ubisoft, and Google hire developers for salaries up to $170,000 in the US or up to ₹30,00,000 in India depending upon experience, skillset and geography.
9. Big Data Engineer Certifications
With the increase in Big Data, Data Analytics and Machine Learning applications in the Industry, the job openings for Big Data Engineers are higher than ever. A Big Data Engineer works directly with the Data Architect and hands-on Developers to convert the architect’s Big Data vision and blueprint into a Big Data reality. Big Data is an umbrella term and encases many technologies such as HDFS, YARN, MapReduce, Sqoop, etc.
A few popular Big Data Engineer certifications to consider are:
- Cloudera Certified Professional
- Hortonworks Hadoop Certification
- Advanced Executive Program in Big Data Engineering by E&ICT Academy
Data Engineers take home a handsome range of up to $150000 or ₹16,00,000 from market giants like Amazon, Walmart, Societe Generale and JPMorgan.
10. Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning Engineer Certifications
As humans, our ability to think and form opinions & decisions is what makes us unique. This helps us find solutions to a lot of the problems we face today. So isn’t it a brilliant idea to preserve our brains functions for more important decisions while employing a smart machine to deal with the monotony? This makes AI one of the most popular career choices. It has shown a whopping 344% growth in trends in the previous year.
Popular AI-ML Engineer Certifications in the category are:
- IBM AI Engineering Professional Certificate
- Professional ML Engineer Certification by Google
- Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Engineer Associate
- Post Graduate Diploma in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning by E&ICT Academy
AI has already created close to 2 million jobs and there’s even more to come. Global players such as Uber, Amazon, PayPal, Instagram, Google and Facebook are hiring with salaries averaging at $146,000 in the US and ₹16,00,000 in India.
That was all about the Top 10 Certifications for 2021. Hope this article proved useful to you. Do stay tuned for the upcoming articles in the series! You can also learn more about the Top 10 Highest Paying Jobs in the IT landscape to get clarity on the career you want to pursue.
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