Salary Survey Extra is a series of periodic dispatches that give added insight into the findings of our most recent Salary Survey. These posts contain previously unpublished Salary Survey data.

There are nine different specializations for application developers working inside the IBM information technology ecosystem. So you'll have to do some narrowing of the scope of your programming interests before becoming an IBM Certified Application Developer (No. 32 on our most recent Salary Survey 75 list).

Here what the salary picture looks like for IBM Certified Application Developer holders who responded to the Salary Survey:

All U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $117,050
Median Annual Salary: $112,500
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 9.2 percent
Very Satisfied: 27.3 percent
Satisfied: 54.5 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 9 percent
Not At All Satisfied: [No responses]

All Non-U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $47,320
Median Annual Salary: $28,130
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: [No responses]
Very Satisfied: 14.3 percent
Satisfied: 28.6 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 42.9 percent
Not At All Satisfied: 14.2 percent

The largest single body of IBM Certified Application Developer holders to participate in the survey is made up of U.S. residents (34.4 percent of those surveyed), but we also heard from credential holders in 12 other countries: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Egypt, Greece, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Switzerland, Thailand, and the United Kingdom.

Women appear to be making some inroads here: 18.8 percent of IBM Certified Application Developer holders who responded to the survey are female. Generally speaking, the pool of credential holders is somewhat youthful, with 25 percent of respondents between the ages of 25 and 34, 34.4 percent between the ages of 35 and 44, and 18.8 percent between the ages of 45 and 54. The remaining 21.8 percent of respondents are either between the ages of 55 and 64 (15.6 percent) or between the ages 65 and 74 (6.2 percent).

More than 90 percent of IBM Certified Application Developer holders who responded to the survey have an educational background that includes time spent at a college or university. The highest level of education completed by most IBM Certified Application Developer holders is either a bachelor's degree (50 percent of those surveyed), master's degree (28.1 percent), professional degree (9.4 percent), or doctorate (3.1 percent). The outliers are the 6.3 percent of respondents who completed some level of technical training after high school and the 3.1 percent who exited the realm of formal education after getting a high school diploma.

There's a strongly positive employment outlook for IBM Certified Application Developer holders: 94.1 percent of survey respondents are employed full-time, and the remaining 5.9 percent have part-time jobs. Nobody is out of work. Among those with full-time jobs, most are at work either between 41 and 50 hours per week (43.8 percent of those surveyed) or for the standard 40 hours per week (40.6 percent). The rest are either punching the clock for more than 50 hours per week (9.3 percent of respondents) or between 31 and 39 hours per week (6.3 percent).

Exactly half of those surveyed are spending most of those hours in a traditional workplace, working 10 or fewer hours per week at home. After that, there's a little bit of everything: 15.6 percent of respondents work between 10 and 20 hours per week from home, 3.1 percent work between 21 and 30 hours per week from home, 12.5 percent work between 31 and 39 hours per week from home, 12.5 percent work 40 hours per week from home, and 6.3 percent work more than 40 hours per week from home.

In terms of workplace standing, the largest single group of IBM Certified Application Developer holders we heard from are employed at the senior specialist level (47.4 percent of those surveyed). The rest, in descending order, are either specialists (23.7 percent of respondents), managers (10.5 percent), rank-and-file employees (7.9 percent), senior managers (5.3 percent), or executives (5.2 percent).

A core 47.4 percent of the IBM Certified Application Developer holders who responded to the survey are IT veterans, having worked in a role the directly utilizes their certified skills for more than a decade. The rest have been plying their certified skills for between zero years (1 to 11 months) and 2 years (7.9 percent of respondents), between 3 and 5 years (13.1 percent), between 6 and 8 years (18.4 percent), or between 9 and 10 years (13.2 percent).

Finally, here's the view of IBM Certified Application Developer holders on key questions from the survey about how certification impacts job performance:

At my current job I use skills learned or enhanced through certification:
Several times a day: 29 percent
Several times a week: 18.4 percent
Several times a month: 15.8 percent
Occasionally: 26.3 percent
Rarely: 10.5 percent

Since becoming certified, I feel there is greater demand for my skills.
Strongly agree: 21.1 percent
Agree: 28.9 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 36.9 percent
Disagree: 10.5 percent
Strongly Disagree: 2.6 percent

Becoming certified has increased my problem-solving skills.
Strongly agree: 18.4 percent
Agree: 34.2 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 29 percent
Disagree: 15.8 percent
Strongly Disagree: 2.6 percent

Becoming certified has increased my workplace productivity.
Strongly agree: 13.2 percent
Agree: 34.2 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 31.6 percent
Disagree: 18.4 percent
Strongly Disagree: 2.6 percent