Job Seeker Tips

A heads-up comparison of EC-Council's Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) and CompTIA's PenTest+ professional certifications.

Cybersecurity is one of the top paying and fastest growing disciplines in the IT workforce. Among the myriad specializations in this field, ethical hacking and penetration testing are particularly sought-after due to the critical role they play in identifying and mitigating potential cyber attacks before they happen. Professional certifications like EC-Council’s Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) and CompTIA's PenTest+ offer a pathway to demonstrate your expertise in these domains.

But when it comes to choosing between the two, which certificate should you pursue? This article will compare the CEH and PenTest+ certifications to help you make an informed decision.

ITCareerFinder analyzes salaries & hiring trends to uncover this year's best paying cyber security roles.

This post will be updated annually with the top paying cyber-sec jobs and wages. Current year: 2023.

Data breaches are becoming so ubiquitous that it’s easy to gloss over the headlines, but the fallout is much harder for companies to ignore -- hacks are not just embarrassing, but can lead to serious financial and reputational damage. So, it’s not surprising that there’s high demand for IT security specialists, and that those who are up to the task are generously compensated. In fact, cyber security is the 3rd most highly sought-after skill set in 2023, and many companies report info-sec vacancies due to their inability to find qualified candidates.

Not only are these skills in peak demand, but cyber security is one of the highest-paying IT specialties, bringing in an average salary of $102,600 (more than double the $45,760 average for all occupations) according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. But not all cyber-sec jobs pay the same. A handful of positions stand above the rest, at least in terms of compensation.

Here are some of the highest paying cyber security careers for 2023:

As the economy diversifies, so do the choices you face when you're preparing to enter the workforce. A four-year degree is no longer a must for many lucrative positions, nor is it an automatic ticket to career success. And with the cost of a traditional college education continuing to rise, student loans are becoming more of a burden, as well.

In short, it pays to look around at the growing number of alternatives that can jump-start you on a career path. Specialized professions in the culinary arts, sewing, carpentry, and money management (everything from credit to budgeting to investing) offer a wealth of opportunities through affordable certificate programs and apprenticeships.

But nowhere are the opportunities greater than in the IT field, which is good news because you can pursue training and certification in much of this space online. This has become even more crucial during the pandemic, as distance learning has become the norm in many places.

And if you're trying to save money (and who isn't?), here's some good news: There are numerous free online courses to explore, and plenty of places to get started.

Follow these steps to gain real-world expertise without a college degree:

After a 2022 that saw massive layoffs in the high-tech workforce, 2023 is heralding more of the same.

In this article we'll identify which tech companies laid off the most workers, the reasons behind this ongoing spike in layoffs, and how you can boost your job security in a volatile IT workforce.

Layoffs data on this page will be updated continually. For up-to-the-minute layoff tracking, visit Layoffs.fyi - an aggregator of tech layoff announcements since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Which tech companies are laying off workers?

Used strategically, LinkedIn is a powerful tool for online job search. It is however very common for job seekers to ignore the value of LinkedIn, and focus their efforts on the massive job search engines like CareerBuilder and Monster. The big boards should still be part of your online job search strategy, but at times like these you need to use every weapon at your disposal; LinkedIn is the strongest job search tool you never used - or at least never used to its full extent.

ITCareerFinder examines 10 sought-after roles that will thrive in the age of automation, as well as some popular jobs that will be replaced as automation accelerates.

Employers estimate that by 2025, 85 million jobs may be eliminated by automation. But at the same time, a report by World Economic Forum (WEF), notes that 97 million new roles may emerge that are more adapted to the new division of labor between humans, machines and algorithms.

From the workers’ standpoint, an overall addition of 12 million jobs, even after accounting for job losses due to the pandemic, is good news. Additionally, a Deloitte study found that automation technologies eliminated 800,000 low-skilled jobs, but the new jobs created by automation and robotics paid an average of $13,000 more per year than the ones that were lost.

So, what kind of jobs will technology create or expand? After careful research and review, here’s a look at 10 jobs that will benefit directly from increased automation. Many of these roles are technical in nature, but not all. Best of all, these desirable jobs will not be replaced by artificial intelligence. They pay good salaries, provide interesting and challenging work, and will continue to grow for years to come.

Here are ten jobs that will thrive with increasing automation:

ITCareerFinder breaks down the latest employment and wage data and speaks with technology executives to identify the hottest skill sets of 2021 (and beyond).

Possessing the right combination of technical expertise, soft skills and practical experience can help you impress potential employers and land a high-paying job in one of the fastest growing fields in information technology.

In fact, according to PayScale’s data team, knowledge of high-demand technologies and key fundamentals boosts compensation by 14% to 26%.

If you’re looking to advance your career by acquiring new skills or certifications, here are ten of the hottest areas of technology you may want to consider and the best skills to learn in each:

Check out an updated version of this post at the Best Cities for Tech Jobs.

So you've spent the money, time and effort to become an expert on anything IT. Now where do you go? Using Redmond Report's 2010 Salary Survey for reference, factoring in lists from publications such as Forbes, Marketwatch and Kiplinger and then sticking all applicable data into some of the most sophisticated algorithms created specifically for this list, we've narrowed down the top U.S. cities to relocate to, for those both just starting their careers as well as those looking for a change. And we've also taken into account that, once your 9 to 5 is over, you'll still have to live there.