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 These posts contain previously unpublished Salary Survey data.

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When Azure, the cloud computing service offered by Microsoft, was still in development, internal documentation referred to it as "Project Red Dog." Maybe that was (and still is?) a subtle indication of the software titan's long-term ambitions for Azure, comparing it to Clifford, the beloved kid-lit canine who starts life as a puppy of puppy-esque proportions, but grows to become roughly the size of a house.

Azure has already displaced Windows in the hearts of Microsoft's long-range planners, marketers, and certainly its certification experts, and there's no telling how much bigger it could become. If you want to hop aboard that high-powered train, then Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate, No. 40 on our most recent Salary Survey 75 list is a great place to begin your Azure certification journey.

Here’s what the salary picture looks like for Azure Administrator Associate holders who responded to the Salary Survey:

All U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $109,430
Median Annual Salary: $104,380
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 14.8 percent
Very Satisfied: 37 percent
Satisfied: 40.8 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 7.4 percent
Not At All Satisfied: [No responses]

All Non-U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $71,170
Median Annual Salary: $62,500
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 2.6 percent
Very Satisfied: 21 percent
Satisfied: 50 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 23.8 percent
Not At All Satisfied: 2.6 percent

The largest single body of Azure Administrator Associate holders to participate in the survey is made up of residents of the United States (42.2 percent). The rest of the Azure Administrator Associate holders we heard from are spread across 24 other countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mauritius, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Portugal, Qatar, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland, and Turkey.

The IT industry is typically dominated by male professionals, and only a tiny dollop of the Azure Administrator Associate holders we heard from — 3.1 percent of those surveyed — are women. An overwhelming 95.1 percent are men, while 1.5 percent chose not to identify their gender. Somewhat against type, on the other hand, the Azure Administrator Associate survey cohort is notably youthful, with 64 percent of those surveyed either between the ages of 25 and 34 (10.9 percent) or between the ages of 35 and 44 (53.1 percent). The next-largest group is credential holders between the ages of 45 and 54 — 26.6 percent of respondents — with those remaining either between the ages of 55 and 64 (7.8 percent) or between the ages of 65 and 74 (1.6 percent).

A notable 87 percent of the Azure Administrator Associate 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 Azure Administrator Associate holders is either a bachelor’s degree (37.5 percent of respondents), master’s degree (also 37.5 percent), associate’s degree (9.4 percent), doctorate (1.6 percent), or professional degree (1.5 percent). The remaining 12 percent of Azure Administrator Associate holders either topped out with some level of post-high school technical training (10.9 percent) or departed the realm of formal education after graduating from high school (1.6 percent).

Employment among Azure Administrator Associate holders is rock solid, with 98.5 percent of credential holders employed full-time and the remaining 1.5 percent holding part-time positions. For most respondents, full-time employment means a regular work schedule of either between 41 and 50 hours per week (44.7 percent) or the standard 40 hours per week (21.5 percent). Out of the remaining 35 percent of those surveyed, 20 percent work between 31 and 39 hours per week, 12.3 percent put in more than 50 hours per week, and a fortunate 1.5 percent have a full-time work schedule of between 20 and 30 hours per week.

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically reshuffled workplaces worldwide in 2020, and there’s strong evidence of that here: A notable 45 percent of the Azure Administrator Associate holders we heard from are spending their entire work schedule at home, with 32.2 percent working beneath the same roof that’s overhead when they sleep at night for more than 40 hours per week, and a further 12.3 percent doing so for 40 hours per week. The rest haven’t entirely separated from their cubicles (or corner offices), working from home either between 31 and 39 hours per week (7.7 percent of respondents), between 21 and 30 hours per week (15.4 percent), between 10 and 20 hours per week (13.8 percent), or for fewer than 10 hours per week (18.5 percent).

In terms of workplace standing, the largest single group of Azure Administrator Associate holders we heard from are employed at the senior specialist level (32 percent). The rest, in descending order, are either senior managers (18.8 percent), managers (17.4 percent), specialists (11.6 percent), executives (7.2 percent), rank-and-file employees (also 7.2 percent), or directors (5.8 percent).

A solid 53.6 percent of Azure Administrator Associate holders who responded to the survey are IT veterans, having worked in a role that directly utilizes one or more of their certified skills for more than a decade. The rest have been plying their certified skills for either between zero years (1 to 11 months) and 2 years (8.7 percent of respondents), between 3 and 5 years (17.4 percent), between 6 and 8 years (8.7 percent), or between 9 and 10 years (11.6 percent).

Finally, here’s the view of Azure Administrator Associate 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: 50.7 percent
Several times a week: 31.9 percent
Several times a month: 8.8 percent
Occasionally: 8.6 percent
Rarely: [No responses]

Since becoming certified, I feel there is greater demand for my skills.
Strongly agree: 43.5 percent
Agree: 46.4 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 7.2 percent
Disagree: 1.5 percent
Strongly Disagree: 1.4 percent

Becoming certified has increased my problem-solving skills.
Strongly agree: 37.8 percent
Agree: 47.8 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 13 percent
Disagree: [No responses]
Strongly Disagree: 1.4 percent

Becoming certified has increased my workplace productivity.
‍Strongly agree: 31.6 percent
Agree: 44.7 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 15.8 percent
Disagree: 3 percent
Strongly Disagree: 1.4 percent

PAST MICROSOFT CERTIFIED AZURE ADMINISTRATOR ASSOCIATE DEEP FOCUS FEATURES

2021

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