The tick-tick-ticking clock counting down the final seconds, minutes, hours, days and — well, that's it; we've only got a few more seconds, minutes, hours and days until the end of 2016. Like the song says, "Fast away the old year passes."
Before we get around to hailing the new (ye lads and lasses), however, we're inclined to linger longer in the comforting embrace of the familiar. There will be plenty of time to celebrate the arrival of 2017. It's about to pop in through the front door whether or not we're ready for a whole new year.
Today, however, we're looking back at the past 12 months of CertMag.com. There's a lot of content here at the official website of Certification Magazine, and some of the "legacy" articles still generate regular traffic. Sort of like how people are still reading Shakespeare for the first time in 2016.
(Did we just compare the import of own chicken scratchings to the immortal wordcraft of William Shakespeare? Don't ask, don't tell. Let's just move on.)
We're going to set all that past greatness aside for a few moments, however, and celebrate the best of the content to arrive during the 2016 calendar year. Best in the sense of "most widely read," that is. Here are links to, and brief descriptions of, the 10 most popular items of new content to pop through since Jan. 1, 2016.
We hope you enjoy this brief next-to-last gasp of 2016 — Spoiler alert: There's a differently-angled retrospective post coming up on Friday — before the New Year comes barreling in and starts bossing everyone around.
Without further ado, then, here are CertMag's top hits, in most- to least-clicked order, of 2016:
1) The 2015 Salary Survey 75: Behold, the top-salaried certs from our 2015 Salary Survey. We only even inaugurated this new IT certification power list two years ago, but it's already become one of our hottest new ideas.
2) Salary Survey Intro: The lead-in from to the 2015 Salary Survey section from last year's print edition. We're sensing a theme: You like the Salary Survey. You really, really like it!
3) Profile of Dominic Eldridge: One guy's extraordinary certification story. Dominic Eldridge did not let failure detract from his quest to get new knowledge through IT certification.
4) Red Hat Launches New DevOps Certification: This is our first "most popular" article that did not originate in one of our quarterly print issues. There may not be a simple definition of "DevOps," but everyone wants to know more about it.
5) Get Certified in Just 15 Minutes a Day: Another print original. Need a new approach to your next certification? There's no need for a wham-bam pre-exam-cram if you can set aside just 15 minutes of study time each day.
6) A Surfeit of SQL: This is the second internet exclusive on our list. Oracle Certification expanded its SQL offerings, but Matthew Morris thinks they may have fallen into the "too much of a good thing is a bad thing" trap.
7) Costs and Benefits of Certification: Another 2015 Salary Survey summary article. This one probably got some extra attention because it features our "Next Big Thing" list of certs that people planned to earn in 2016.
8) Salary Survey Extra: IT Salaries by Job Hierarchy: Does your organizational standing affect your salary? We generate a lot of these "further Salary Survey analysis" articles, so it's rewarding to see that they're valued.
9) Studying in Reverse: Matthew Morris says that starting with cert exam answers and "studying in reverse" is for the birds. If you disagree, then you'll find some solace in the aforementioned article about getting certified in just 15 minutes a day.
10) Salary Survey Extra: IT Salaries by U.S. State: Another popular Salary Survey Extra piece. Broadly speaking, which U.S. states are the best places for IT professionals to hit a compensation home run?
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