When I said that you guys don’t need degrees to get a great job, I meant it. But you still need valuable skills to break into field or level up your game. So how do you get a job without a degree? Maybe a certification might help?
But which one do you get? How do you know if it’s a good investment of your time or money?
Watch my YouTube on Top 10 Best Certifications in 2020 for High Paying Jobs below!
I already talked about Google Adwords Certificates and Facebook Blueprint Certificates to become a Digital Marketer and Microsoft Certificates to do pretty much anything in tech.
But what about the rest of the certificates out there?
There are so many and how can you tell if any of them are worth your time and money? Here’s a really easy way to figure it out.
Before you invest your precious time and/or hard-earned money on a #certification, search on #indeed, #linkedinjobs, or any job search site for that certification, if you don’t see it required by many companies, think twice before you enroll.
Search job postings for certifications before you invest your precious time ⏲ and hard earned money .
You have too many other good options for certifications to take first. If it isn’t going to yield you a good return on investment (ROI) today, why take it right now? Take something else first. Prioritize your time and money. That’s what I would do!
This includes Coursera, Udemy, and Harvard EdX — I’ve rarely seen a job posting list one of their certs. I’m not saying that their courses have no value. Any organization that provides great education is wonderful in my book. But TBH, even they don’t list their own certs in their own job listings (see below).
What they need to do is push companies to list their certifications as job requirements.
Until then, be the smarter person that you are, and search for the cert before you take it!
So now for what you’ve been waiting for… the Top 10 very best certificates in 2020…
What Certificates are really worth it?
If you really don’t know what to pick and you want some suggestions, below is a list of my top picks for what I think are the most valuable certifications in 2020.
NOTE: I spent a lot of time researching, analyzing, and agonizing (see the section below) on the design, methodology, and execution of this ranking. I put in a lot of effort because I don’t want you to waste your precious time and hard-earned money when you could be spending it on your loved ones or putting food on the table.
But do me a huge favor, ok? Please search and verify on indeed.com first, as I instructed above, that you like your chances of getting hired BEFORE you enroll in any training below, ok? ✨
2020’s TOP 10 BEST CERTIFICATIONS
*On Indeed.com
**Most Salesforce Certifications are valuable.
How did I come up with this ranking?
When I searched for best certifications, there were tons of articles that ranked certifications by salaries, trends, and other “reasons”, but not one of them was based on evidence. None of them were backed by data that I cared about. None of them answered important REAL-LIFE questions like:
How many ACTUAL job listings require these certifications?
How many of those ACTUAL job listings pay at least $100,000?
1) I searched for the “best certifications in 2020” and read countless job articles on the best certifications, which resulted in this comprehensive list below:
- A+
- Agile Certifications*
- AWS
- Azure
- CCIE
- CCNA
- CCNP
- CEH
- Challenger Sales
- Cisco Certifications*
- CISSP
- Cloud Certifications*
- CompTIA
- Epic Certification
- GIAC
- Google Certifications*
- HubSpot Inbound
- IBM Certifications*
- ITIL
- Lean Certification
- Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE)
- Microsoft Certifications*
- Network+
- Oracle Certifications*
- PHR Certification
- PMP
- SalesForce Certification
- Sandler Training
- SAP Certifications*
- ScrumMaster
- Security Certifications*
- SHRM Certification
- Six Sigma Certification
- SPHR Certification
- Spin Selling
*most are valuable
2) Then, on 8/18/2020, I keyword searched for each one of them on Indeed.com. For example, see below. Now, please keep in mind that the search results are not perfect, but they at least give a more accurate, quantifiable, and relatively more evidence-based rationale as to why these certifications are the best.
3) Ran a search for those certification jobs that made $100,000 or more.
4) Crunched some numbers and ranked it by the following priorities:
- Low Cost (Online Training + Exam)
- # of Jobs on Indeed.com as of 8/18/20
- % of Jobs that pay $100K+ as of 8/18/20
5) Finally, it resulted in the following ranking:
I am a huge advocate for education. I love learning and nothing makes me happier than learning something new and surrounding myself with people who love to learn like me. BUT I advocate for what makes sense and for you, first and foremost.
I don’t have anything against companies like Coursera, Udemy, or even Harvard’s EdX. Not at all! I just never see their courses or certificates as requirements in job listings.
For an employer to take a chance on you, you’d have to show promise that they’d get their return on investment (ROI). Remember that they’re running a business and you are always providing a service to them. Don’t ever forget that you provide value and you always have to quantify yourself on your resume.
If you don’t appraise yourself professionally, no one else will and you’ll never be able to confidently negotiate a job offer, raise, or promotion. Maybe you have the gift of gab and you can wing it? But for the majority of us, we need evidence to back up our value. This is where valuable skills and education like certificates come in.
I’m always in your corner. Like that coach in those Rocky movies, except I don’t want you to get beat up to figure out what you did wrong. LOL
For more valuable tips, don’t forget to check out the rest of them here and the videos. Stay connected with me for more career advice and more job alerts — subscribe to my newsletter below, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. I want to see you succeed!!!
