Free IT Certification Training

By Jacqui Tom and the All Business Schools career research team—Your source for Business Career news, trends and programs.

There are hundreds of IT certifications for dozens of software, hardware and other IT programs. Many companies host their own training and exams for their proprietary software's certification. Free IT training may or may not be offered directly by the software company, but study materials and free training will often be offered online by third-party organizations.

Here is a list of the average annual salaries for people holding those certifications—based on the people who responded to the survey—as determined from a 2008 ZDNET Tech Republic annual salary survey:

• PMI Project Management Professional (PMP): $101,695
• PMI Certified Association in Project Management (CAPM): $101,103
• ITIL v2 – Foundations: $95,415
• Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP): $94,018
• Cisco CCIE Routing and Switching: $93,500
• Cisco Certified Voice Professional (CCVP): $88.824
• ITIL v3 – ITIL Master: $86,600
• Microsoft Certified Solution Developer (MCSD): $84, 522
• Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP): $84,161
• Red Hat Certified Engineer (RGCE): $83,692

While the above list is just a sample of some of the many levels of certification, free IT training of any kind will help to boost your career and increase your earning potential. No matter what your career specialty, there is a free IT training program out there for you.

IT certification is granted only when an applicant has taken the time to thoroughly learn new software and/or coding systems, sat through a formal examination to test their skills, and passed the test with a high enough score to be deemed qualified to earn the certification. Free IT training can help you study and prepare for such IT certification exams with no investment other than your time and determination. While your free IT training program may take no investment other than time and diligence, however, it's important to note that virtually all certification exams will cost money to take—usually well over $500.

Just some of the benefits of earning your IT certification include:

• Higher salary
• More job opportunities
• Increased chance of promotion

Adding IT certifications to your résumé will show employers not only hard proof that you have the skills they are hiring for, but also that you are willing to go the extra mile to improve yourself and develop professionally. This will really set you apart from the competition when changing jobs, asking for a raise or competing for a promotion.

A good place to start looking for a free IT training program is on the websites for major software corporations such as Adobe, Cisco or Sun. They offer online resources to help IT professionals earn IT certification in their products. Trade magazines, IT-focused blogs and community colleges may also be great sources for information on where to find free local and online it training programs.

Reaching your goal of earning your IT certification is closer than you think. Free IT training is easily accessible online. The education you need to take your career to the next level is just waiting out there for you to find it!