Certifications with the most demand in US job ads, job by job
PMP is the most-named certification in the United States: 24% of project manager job ads name it (14,183 of 59,273, Adzuna, October 2026). The table ranks all 58 certifications we track here by the same measure: the share of ads in each one's main role. By number of ads, PMP (14,183) and CCNP (1,892) lead.
Show the numbers
| Certification | Ads naming it | Role ads | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| PMP (Project manager) | 14,183 | 59,273 | 24% |
| SAFe (Scrum Master) | 211 | 946 | 22% |
| CSM (Scrum Master) | 210 | 946 | 22% |
| CompTIA A+ (IT support) | 551 | 2,745 | 20% |
| CCNP (Network engineer) | 1,892 | 9,475 | 20% |
| CompTIA (IT support) | 546 | 2,745 | 20% |
| CCNA (Network engineer) | 1,557 | 9,475 | 16% |
| Scrum Master (Scrum Master) | 150 | 946 | 16% |
| PSM (Scrum Master) | 112 | 946 | 12% |
| ITIL (IT support) | 206 | 2,745 | 7.5% |
| CISSP (Cybersecurity analyst) | 338 | 8,110 | 4.2% |
| AWS (Cloud engineer) | 297 | 7,726 | 3.8% |
On this page
- Full ranking
- By field
- How we rank
- Which certifications do US job ads name most for each job?
- Which of these can a beginner take first?
- Which rows count a whole brand, not one exam?
- Which certifications do US ads name in more than one job?
- Which certifications do US data-analyst ads name?
- How should you use this list to pick a certification?
Full ranking
| # Certification | Field | Main role | Ads naming it | Role ads | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. PMP | Project management | Project manager | 14,183 | 59,273 | 24% |
| 2. SAFe | Agile & Scrum | Scrum Master | 211 | 946 | 22% |
| 3. CSM | Agile & Scrum | Scrum Master | 210 | 946 | 22% |
| 4. CompTIA A+ | IT support & networking | IT support | 551 | 2,745 | 20% |
| 5. CCNP | IT support & networking | Network engineer | 1,892 | 9,475 | 20% |
| 6. CompTIA | IT support & networking | IT support | 546 | 2,745 | 20% |
| 7. CCNA | IT support & networking | Network engineer | 1,557 | 9,475 | 16% |
| 8. Scrum Master | Agile & Scrum | Scrum Master | 150 | 946 | 16% |
| 9. PSM | Agile & Scrum | Scrum Master | 112 | 946 | 12% |
| 10. ITIL | IT support & networking | IT support | 206 | 2,745 | 7.5% |
| 11. CISSP | Cybersecurity | Cybersecurity analyst | 338 | 8,110 | 4.2% |
| 12. AWS | Cloud & DevOps | Cloud engineer | 297 | 7,726 | 3.8% |
| 13. AWS Solutions Architect Associate | Cloud & DevOps | Cloud engineer | 242 | 7,726 | 3.1% |
| 14. Microsoft Azure certifications | Cloud & DevOps | Cloud engineer | 178 | 7,726 | 2.3% |
| 15. Google Associate Cloud Engineer | Cloud & DevOps | Cloud engineer | 167 | 7,726 | 2.2% |
| 16. CAPM | Project management | Project manager | 982 | 59,273 | 1.7% |
| 17. CISM | Cybersecurity | Cybersecurity analyst | 134 | 8,110 | 1.7% |
| 18. AZ-305 | Cloud & DevOps | Cloud engineer | 117 | 7,726 | 1.5% |
| 19. CompTIA CySA+ | Cybersecurity | Cybersecurity analyst | 119 | 8,110 | 1.5% |
| 20. CompTIA Network+ | IT support & networking | Network engineer | 139 | 9,475 | 1.5% |
| 21. CompTIA Security+ | Cybersecurity | Cybersecurity analyst | 112 | 8,110 | 1.4% |
| 22. AZ-104 | Cloud & DevOps | Cloud engineer | 105 | 7,726 | 1.4% |
| 23. PMI-ACP | Project management | Project manager | 673 | 59,273 | 1.1% |
| 24. CEH | Cybersecurity | Cybersecurity analyst | 81 | 8,110 | 81 of 8,110 ads |
| 25. Six Sigma Green Belt | Business, HR & marketing | Project manager | 364 | 59,273 | 364 of 59,273 ads |
| 26. CompTIA SecurityX (CASP+) | Cybersecurity | Cybersecurity analyst | 48 | 8,110 | 48 of 8,110 ads |
| 27. SSCP | Cybersecurity | Cybersecurity analyst | 46 | 8,110 | 46 of 8,110 ads |
| 28. AWS Cloud Practitioner | Cloud & DevOps | Cloud engineer | 42 | 7,726 | 42 of 7,726 ads |
| 29. Terraform Associate | Cloud & DevOps | Cloud engineer | 40 | 7,726 | 40 of 7,726 ads |
| 30. PRINCE2 | Project management | Project manager | 304 | 59,273 | 304 of 59,273 ads |
| 31. CKA | Cloud & DevOps | Cloud engineer | 36 | 7,726 | 36 of 7,726 ads |
| 32. AWS Developer Associate | Cloud & DevOps | Cloud engineer | 32 | 7,726 | 32 of 7,726 ads |
| 33. Six Sigma | Business, HR & marketing | Project manager | 233 | 59,273 | 233 of 59,273 ads |
| 34. CRISC | Cybersecurity | Cybersecurity analyst | 31 | 8,110 | 31 of 8,110 ads |
| 35. AWS SysOps / CloudOps Associate | Cloud & DevOps | Cloud engineer | 28 | 7,726 | 28 of 7,726 ads |
| 36. AZ-500 | Cloud & DevOps | Cloud engineer | 24 | 7,726 | 24 of 7,726 ads |
| 37. CompTIA Cloud+ | Cloud & DevOps | Cloud engineer | 16 | 7,726 | 16 of 7,726 ads |
| 38. Google Data Analytics | Data & analytics | Data analyst | 7 | 6,094 | 7 of 6,094 ads |
| 39. Google IT Support | IT support & networking | IT support | 3 | 2,745 | 3 of 2,745 ads |
| 40. Six Sigma Black Belt | Business, HR & marketing | Project manager | 58 | 59,273 | 58 of 59,273 ads |
| 41. PL-300 | Data & analytics | Data analyst | 4 | 6,094 | 4 of 6,094 ads |
| 42. AZ-900 | Cloud & DevOps | Cloud engineer | 5 | 7,726 | 5 of 7,726 ads |
| 43. AZ-204 | Cloud & DevOps | Cloud engineer | 4 | 7,726 | 4 of 7,726 ads |
| 44. IPMA | Project management | Project manager | 24 | 59,273 | 24 of 59,273 ads |
| 45. Google Cloud certification | Cloud & DevOps | Cloud engineer | 3 | 7,726 | 3 of 7,726 ads |
| 46. Google Cloud Digital Leader | Cloud & DevOps | Cloud engineer | 3 | 7,726 | 3 of 7,726 ads |
| 47. CISA | Cybersecurity | Cybersecurity analyst | 3 | 8,110 | 3 of 8,110 ads |
| 48. ISC2 CC | Cybersecurity | Cybersecurity analyst | 3 | 8,110 | 3 of 8,110 ads |
| 49. Google Project Management | Project management | Project manager | 19 | 59,273 | 19 of 59,273 ads |
| 50. Google Professional Cloud Architect | Cloud & DevOps | Cloud engineer | 1 | 7,726 | 1 of 7,726 ads |
| 51. PMI-RMP | Project management | Project manager | 3 | 59,273 | 3 of 59,273 ads |
| 52. AI-900 | AI | Cloud engineer | 0 | 7,726 | 0 of 7,726 ads |
| 53. AI-901 | AI | Cloud engineer | 0 | 7,726 | 0 of 7,726 ads |
| 54. AWS AI Practitioner | AI | Cloud engineer | 0 | 7,726 | 0 of 7,726 ads |
| 55. Google Career Certificates | Learning platforms | IT support | 0 | 2,745 | 0 of 2,745 ads |
| 56. Google Cybersecurity | Cybersecurity | Cybersecurity analyst | 0 | 8,110 | 0 of 8,110 ads |
| 57. Google IT Automation with Python | IT support & networking | IT support | 0 | 2,745 | 0 of 2,745 ads |
| 58. IBM Cybersecurity Analyst | Cybersecurity | Cybersecurity analyst | 0 | 8,110 | 0 of 8,110 ads |
By field
Show the numbers
| Certification | Ads naming it | Role ads | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| PMP (Project manager) | 14,183 | 59,273 | 24% |
| CAPM (Project manager) | 982 | 59,273 | 1.7% |
| PMI-ACP (Project manager) | 673 | 59,273 | 1.1% |
| PRINCE2 (Project manager) | 304 | 59,273 | 304 of 59,273 |
| IPMA (Project manager) | 24 | 59,273 | 24 of 59,273 |
| Google Project Management (Project manager) | 19 | 59,273 | 19 of 59,273 |
| PMI-RMP (Project manager) | 3 | 59,273 | 3 of 59,273 |
Show the numbers
| Certification | Ads naming it | Role ads | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAFe (Scrum Master) | 211 | 946 | 22% |
| CSM (Scrum Master) | 210 | 946 | 22% |
| Scrum Master (Scrum Master) | 150 | 946 | 16% |
| PSM (Scrum Master) | 112 | 946 | 12% |
Show the numbers
| Certification | Ads naming it | Role ads | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| CompTIA A+ (IT support) | 551 | 2,745 | 20% |
| CCNP (Network engineer) | 1,892 | 9,475 | 20% |
| CompTIA (IT support) | 546 | 2,745 | 20% |
| CCNA (Network engineer) | 1,557 | 9,475 | 16% |
| ITIL (IT support) | 206 | 2,745 | 7.5% |
| CompTIA Network+ (Network engineer) | 139 | 9,475 | 1.5% |
| Google IT Support (IT support) | 3 | 2,745 | 3 of 2,745 |
| Google IT Automation with Python (IT support) | 0 | 2,745 | 0 of 2,745 |
Show the numbers
| Certification | Ads naming it | Role ads | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| CISSP (Cybersecurity analyst) | 338 | 8,110 | 4.2% |
| CISM (Cybersecurity analyst) | 134 | 8,110 | 1.7% |
| CompTIA CySA+ (Cybersecurity analyst) | 119 | 8,110 | 1.5% |
| CompTIA Security+ (Cybersecurity analyst) | 112 | 8,110 | 1.4% |
| CEH (Cybersecurity analyst) | 81 | 8,110 | 81 of 8,110 |
| CompTIA SecurityX (CASP+) (Cybersecurity analyst) | 48 | 8,110 | 48 of 8,110 |
| SSCP (Cybersecurity analyst) | 46 | 8,110 | 46 of 8,110 |
| CRISC (Cybersecurity analyst) | 31 | 8,110 | 31 of 8,110 |
| CISA (Cybersecurity analyst) | 3 | 8,110 | 3 of 8,110 |
| ISC2 CC (Cybersecurity analyst) | 3 | 8,110 | 3 of 8,110 |
| Google Cybersecurity (Cybersecurity analyst) | 0 | 8,110 | 0 of 8,110 |
| IBM Cybersecurity Analyst (Cybersecurity analyst) | 0 | 8,110 | 0 of 8,110 |
Show the numbers
| Certification | Ads naming it | Role ads | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| AWS (Cloud engineer) | 297 | 7,726 | 3.8% |
| AWS Solutions Architect Associate (Cloud engineer) | 242 | 7,726 | 3.1% |
| Microsoft Azure certifications (Cloud engineer) | 178 | 7,726 | 2.3% |
| Google Associate Cloud Engineer (Cloud engineer) | 167 | 7,726 | 2.2% |
| AZ-305 (Cloud engineer) | 117 | 7,726 | 1.5% |
| AZ-104 (Cloud engineer) | 105 | 7,726 | 1.4% |
| AWS Cloud Practitioner (Cloud engineer) | 42 | 7,726 | 42 of 7,726 |
| Terraform Associate (Cloud engineer) | 40 | 7,726 | 40 of 7,726 |
| CKA (Cloud engineer) | 36 | 7,726 | 36 of 7,726 |
| AWS Developer Associate (Cloud engineer) | 32 | 7,726 | 32 of 7,726 |
| AWS SysOps / CloudOps Associate (Cloud engineer) | 28 | 7,726 | 28 of 7,726 |
| AZ-500 (Cloud engineer) | 24 | 7,726 | 24 of 7,726 |
| CompTIA Cloud+ (Cloud engineer) | 16 | 7,726 | 16 of 7,726 |
| AZ-900 (Cloud engineer) | 5 | 7,726 | 5 of 7,726 |
| AZ-204 (Cloud engineer) | 4 | 7,726 | 4 of 7,726 |
| Google Cloud certification (Cloud engineer) | 3 | 7,726 | 3 of 7,726 |
| Google Cloud Digital Leader (Cloud engineer) | 3 | 7,726 | 3 of 7,726 |
| Google Professional Cloud Architect (Cloud engineer) | 1 | 7,726 | 1 of 7,726 |
Show the numbers
| Certification | Ads naming it | Role ads | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Six Sigma Green Belt (Project manager) | 364 | 59,273 | 364 of 59,273 |
| Six Sigma (Project manager) | 233 | 59,273 | 233 of 59,273 |
| Six Sigma Black Belt (Project manager) | 58 | 59,273 | 58 of 59,273 |
How we rank
For each certification we search Adzuna job ads for its main role in the country (for example, project manager for PMP), count the ads whose text names the certification, and divide by all ads for that role. Counts are from October 2026. Shares from fewer than 50 ads are not published. Each certification is measured within its own role, so the share shows how often employers in that job ask for it, not how many jobs exist overall.
The most in-demand certifications are different for each job, so start from yours: the PMP, a project-management certification, appeared in 24% of the ads with project manager in the title. The CCNP, a Cisco networking certification, appeared in 20% of the ads with network engineer in the title. Both figures come from US job ads counted by Adzuna, a job-ad search site, in October 2026.
No certification leads every job. Below, each job gets its own list, followed by which of these a beginner can take first, which rows count a whole brand such as CompTIA (an IT certification vendor) rather than one exam, and how to pick.
Which certifications do US job ads name most for each job?
Each job has its own list. A list holds only the certifications we count for that job, so a certification we do not count can still appear in the ads. Some, such as ITIL and CompTIA Security+, are on two or three lists, with a separate share on each.
Read each row as: out of all US ads with this job title, the share of them that name the certification. The role total is all the ads for the job title, for example every US ad with project manager in its title, in any industry; it is not every ad for that kind of work. An ad that names two certifications counts in both rows, so a table's shares do not add up to a whole. A mention can be a requirement, a preference or a training benefit, so a share shows how often ads name a certification, not how often they require it. These are counts of ads, not salaries. Where two rows show nearly the same share, treat them as tied: a small change in the ad counts could swap them.
Jump to: project managers · Scrum masters · network engineers · security analysts · cloud engineers · IT support · a beginner's first exam
Project managers
| Certification | Share of US project-manager ads |
|---|---|
| PMP (Project Management Professional, PMI) | 24% |
| CAPM (Certified Associate in Project Management, PMI) | 1.7% |
| ITIL (an IT service-management framework, PeopleCert; any mention of the name) | 1.2% |
| PMI-ACP (PMI Agile Certified Practitioner) | 1.1% |
| Six Sigma Green Belt (ASQ, IASSC and others) | 364 of 59,273 |
| PRINCE2 (PeopleCert) | 304 of 59,273 |
In October 2026, Adzuna returned 59,273 US job ads with project manager in the title, and each share is the part of them that names the certification. Our project-manager page compares these ads by country.
Program managers
| Certification | Share of US program-manager ads |
|---|---|
| PMP | 19% |
| PRINCE2 | 1.1% |
| Six Sigma Black Belt (ASQ, IASSC and others) | 59 of 30,691 |
The ads counted here are the 30,691 US job ads with program manager in the title (Adzuna, October 2026). The PMP row is a separate count from the project-manager one: the same credential, measured against a different job title.
Scrum masters
| Certification | Share of US Scrum-master ads |
|---|---|
| SAFe Scrum Master (Scaled Agile; SAFe is a framework for running agile in large organizations) | 22% |
| CSM (Certified ScrumMaster, Scrum Alliance) | 22% |
| PMI-ACP (PMI) | 19% |
| Scrum master certification (the general phrase, any provider) | 16% |
| PSM (Professional Scrum Master, Scrum.org) | 12% |
For Scrum masters, Adzuna returned 946 US job ads with scrum master in the title in October 2026. The CSM, PSM and SAFe rows search the full certification names, so ads that write only the abbreviation or the one-word "ScrumMaster" are not counted; the PMI-ACP row searches its code. Our Scrum-master page compares these ads by country and lists what they ask for besides a certificate.
Network engineers
| Certification | Share of US network-engineer ads |
|---|---|
| CCNP (Cisco Certified Network Professional, Cisco) | 20% |
| CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate, Cisco) | 16% |
| CompTIA (any mention of the brand) | 4.9% |
| CompTIA Network+ | 1.5% |
Counted here: the 9,475 US ads with network engineer in the title that Adzuna returned for October 2026. Our network-engineer page has the same count for other countries.
Security analysts
| Certification | Share of US security-analyst ads |
|---|---|
| CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional, ISC2) | 4.2% |
| CompTIA (any mention of the brand) | 2.0% |
| CISM (Certified Information Security Manager, ISACA) | 1.7% |
| CompTIA CySA+ (Cybersecurity Analyst, a CompTIA security exam) | 1.5% |
| CompTIA Security+ | 1.4% |
| CEH (Certified Ethical Hacker, EC-Council) | 81 of 8,110 |
For this job we search the title security analyst, and Adzuna returned 8,110 US ads with those words in the title in October 2026. Our cybersecurity-analyst page compares them by country.
SOC analysts
| Certification | Share of US SOC-analyst ads |
|---|---|
| CompTIA CySA+ | 15% |
| CEH | 13% |
| CompTIA Security+ | 7% |
| SSCP (Systems Security Certified Practitioner, ISC2) | 4% |
A SOC (security operations center) analyst watches alerts and handles incidents. Adzuna returned 233 US ads with soc analyst in the title in October 2026. With a sample of this size, a handful of ads can reorder these rows.
Cloud engineers
| Certification | Share of US cloud-engineer ads |
|---|---|
AWS (the phrase aws certified, any level) |
3.8% |
AWS Certified Solutions Architect (the phrase aws certified solutions architect, any level) |
3.1% |
Microsoft Azure certifications (the phrase azure certification) |
2.3% |
Google Cloud Associate Cloud Engineer (the phrase associate cloud engineer certification) |
2.2% |
| AZ-305 (Azure Solutions Architect Expert, Microsoft) | 1.5% |
| AZ-104 (Azure Administrator Associate, Microsoft) | 1.4% |
The cloud-engineer role total is 7,726 US ads with cloud engineer in the title (Adzuna, October 2026). Our cloud-engineer page sets the AWS and Azure counts side by side for each country.
DevOps engineers
We count only one certification for DevOps engineers. The phrase aws certified appeared in 3.8% of 3,861 US ads with devops engineer in the title (Adzuna, October 2026). For a DevOps path, the cloud-engineer table is the nearest list we have.
IT support
| Certification | Share of US IT-support ads |
|---|---|
| CompTIA A+ | 20% |
| CompTIA (any mention of the brand) | 20% |
| ITIL | 7.5% |
| CompTIA Network+ | 5.9% |
| CompTIA Security+ | 1.2% |
The IT-support role total is the 2,745 US ads with it support in the title that Adzuna returned for October 2026. The CompTIA A+ and CompTIA rows can count the same ads. They are separate searches, and the A+ search is approximate, so treat the two rows as tied and do not read an order into them. Our IT-support page compares these ads by country.
System administrators
| Certification | Share of US system-administrator ads |
|---|---|
| ITIL | 7.8% |
Microsoft Azure certifications (the phrase azure certification) |
35 of 6,233 |
We count only two certifications for this job, so this table says little about which certification its ads name most. The role total is 6,233 US ads with system administrator in the title (Adzuna, October 2026). Our system-administrator page covers the same ads by country.
Which of these can a beginner take first?
A job's top row is not necessarily an exam you can take first. Some vendors require years of work experience before they grant the certification; others set no requirement and only recommend experience. The table gives each vendor's own rule, as it states it, for the single-exam rows in the job lists on this page. Brand and phrase rows (CompTIA, AWS, Azure, the Scrum master phrase) cover more than one exam, so they have no single rule.
In short: the vendor rules for CAPM, ITIL Foundation, CSM, PSM I and PRINCE2 Foundation list no work-experience requirement, and Cisco (CCNA, CCNP), Scaled Agile (SAFe Scrum Master) and AWS (Cloud Practitioner) state that none is required. For the CompTIA exams, Google Cloud Associate Cloud Engineer, AZ-104 and AWS Solutions Architect – Associate, the vendors only recommend experience. PMP, PMI-ACP, SSCP, CISSP and CISM require it, and CEH requires it or official training.
| Certification | What the vendor asks before you certify | Work experience |
|---|---|---|
| CAPM (PMI) | A secondary diploma and "23 contact hours of formal education" in project management | None stated |
| ITIL Foundation (PeopleCert) | No prerequisite stated; PeopleCert calls Foundation "Your entry point into ITIL" | None stated |
| CSM (Scrum Alliance) | "16 hours of training" in a Scrum Alliance course; no other prerequisite stated | None stated |
| PSM I (Scrum.org) | "While attendance is not a prerequisite, attending a course is strongly recommended." | None stated |
| SAFe Scrum Master (Scaled Agile) | A foundational-level credential for people "New to SAFe"; for the proctored exam, "Training course not required" | Not required |
| PRINCE2 (PeopleCert) | Foundation: no prerequisite stated on PeopleCert's product page. Practitioner: a passed Foundation or another listed project certification, such as the PMP or CAPM | None stated for Foundation |
| CCNA (Cisco) | "Prerequisites: None" | Not required |
| CCNP (Cisco) | "Prerequisites: None" | Not required |
| AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner | "up to 6 months of exposure to AWS Cloud, but this is not required" | Not required |
| CompTIA A+ | None required; CompTIA recommends "12 months of hands-on experience in an IT support specialist job role" | Recommended |
| CompTIA Network+ | None required; CompTIA recommends "CompTIA A+ certification, with 9 to 12 months of hands-on experience" as a junior network administrator or network support technician | Recommended |
| CompTIA Security+ | None required; CompTIA recommends "CompTIA Network+ and two years of experience" in a security or systems-administrator job role | Recommended |
| CompTIA CySA+ | None required; CompTIA recommends "About 4 years in a SOC analyst or vulnerability analyst role" | Recommended |
| Google Cloud Associate Cloud Engineer | None; Google recommends "6+ months hands-on experience with Google Cloud" | Recommended |
| AZ-104 (Microsoft) | No formal prerequisite; Microsoft says "You should be familiar with" operating systems, networking, servers and virtualization, and have experience with PowerShell, the Azure CLI and the Azure portal | Recommended |
| AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate | No formal prerequisite; AWS calls it "an ideal starting point for candidates with AWS Cloud or strong on-premises IT experience" | Recommended |
| Six Sigma Green Belt | ASQ: "3 Years of on-the-job experience" in its Body of Knowledge areas. IASSC: "None" | Depends on the provider |
| Six Sigma Black Belt | ASQ: three years of on-the-job experience in its Body of Knowledge areas plus one completed project with a signed affidavit, or two completed projects with signed affidavits. IASSC: "There are no prerequisites required" | Depends on the provider |
| SSCP (ISC2) | "a minimum of one-year full-time experience in one or more of the domains"; without it you can pass the exam and become an Associate of ISC2, with two years to gain the year of experience | Required to certify |
| CEH (EC-Council) | Either "two years of work experience in an Information Security role" or official EC-Council training | Required, or training instead |
| PMI-ACP (PMI) | A secondary diploma, 21 hours of agile training and "2 years of agile experience (in the past 5 years)" or one year plus a degree from a PMI-accredited (Global Accreditation Center, GAC) program or a third-party agile certification; an active PMP also qualifies | Required |
| PMP (PMI) | Experience leading projects in the past 10 years, set by your education: 60 months with a secondary diploma, 48 with an associate degree or equivalent, 36 with a bachelor's degree or higher, 24 with a degree from a PMI-accredited (GAC) program; plus 35 hours of training | Required |
| CISSP (ISC2) | "a minimum of five years cumulative, full-time experience in two or more of the eight domains"; a degree or an approved credential can count for one year. Without the experience, you can pass the exam and become an Associate of ISC2, with six years to earn it | Required to certify |
| CISM (ISACA) | "A minimum of 5-years of professional information security management work experience" gained in the 10 years before you apply; you can pass the exam first and apply within five years | Required to certify |
| AZ-305 (Microsoft) | "you must earn the Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate certification" (AZ-104) first | AZ-104 required |
A vendor's rule says what you need to hold the certification, not what an employer expects. Rules change, so check the certificate page before you plan around a row.
Which rows count a whole brand, not one exam?
A brand row counts any ad that contains the name, for example every ad that says CompTIA, whichever CompTIA exam it means. Other rows count a general phrase. We search each phrase as written in the table, and a share counts the ads that contain it, not the holders of any one credential.
| Row | Phrase we search | What the count covers |
|---|---|---|
| CompTIA | comptia |
Any ad that contains the word CompTIA: an ad that names A+, Network+, Security+ or another CompTIA exam, names the brand alone, or says CompTIA is preferred. Counted in network-engineer, security-analyst and IT-support ads. CySA+ is searched as cysa, without the brand, so this row is not a sum of the exam rows |
| Scrum master certification | scrum master certification |
The general wording, whichever provider the ad has in mind |
| CSM, PSM and SAFe Scrum Master | certified scrum master, professional scrum master, safe scrum master |
The full certification names; ads that write only CSM, PSM or the one-word "ScrumMaster" are missed |
| AWS | aws certified |
Any AWS certification at any level. The Solutions Architect row searches the longer phrase aws certified solutions architect, so its ads are also in the AWS count |
| Microsoft Azure certifications | azure certification |
The general wording for Microsoft's Azure credentials; AZ-104 and AZ-305 are counted by exam code |
| Google Cloud Associate Cloud Engineer | associate cloud engineer certification |
The certification name followed by the word "certification"; an approximate count |
| ITIL | itil |
Any ad that contains the word ITIL, including ads that ask for ITIL knowledge or experience rather than a certificate |
| CompTIA A+, Network+ and Security+ | comptia a, comptia network, comptia security |
The exam names without the plus sign |
Adzuna's search ignores the "+" character, so we search the three CompTIA exam names without it and mark these rows as approximate. Ads that write only "Security+" without "CompTIA" are missed, so these shares can be off in either direction, and missed ads push them lower. The methodology lists every phrase we search.
Which certifications do US ads name in more than one job?
Several certifications on this page are counted in two or three jobs, and the share can differ between jobs.
| Certification | Job | Share of that job's US ads |
|---|---|---|
| PMP | Project manager | 24% |
| PMP | Program manager | 19% |
| ITIL | IT support | 7.5% |
| ITIL | System administrator | 7.8% |
| ITIL | Project manager | 1.2% |
| CompTIA Security+ | IT support | 1.2% |
| CompTIA Security+ | SOC analyst | 7% |
| CompTIA Security+ | Security analyst | 1.4% |
AWS (aws certified) |
Cloud engineer | 3.8% |
AWS (aws certified) |
DevOps engineer | 3.8% |
Each share is out of that job's role total, given under each job's own table (Adzuna, US, October 2026). Use the share from the job you want, not the one from another job's ads.
Which certifications do US data-analyst ads name?
Data analyst is one more job we count in the US. Of the 6,094 US data-analyst ads Adzuna returned for October 2026, 7 named the Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate and 4 named PL-300 (Microsoft Power BI Data Analyst Associate).
The same ads name skills. SQL appeared in 42% of the ads for US data analysts and Python in 29%. We count only two certificates for this job, so check the ads for the job you want; our data-analyst page covers those skills and the certificate options.
We also track course certificates, which you earn by finishing a course rather than by passing a vendor's exam. In October 2026, the Google Project Management Certificate appeared in 19 of the 59,273 US project-manager ads and the Google IT Support Professional Certificate in 3 of the 2,745 US IT-support ads. The Google Cybersecurity Professional Certificate appeared in none of the 8,110 US security-analyst ads (Adzuna).
Vendor exams can have small counts too. AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner appeared in 42 of the 7,726 US cloud-engineer ads in October 2026. A small count says how often ads name a credential, not what the credential teaches.
How should you use this list to pick a certification?
Start from the job you want next, not from a list that mixes jobs.
- Pick the job title you will actually apply to.
- Read its table and note the top two or three rows. Check whether each row counts one exam or a whole brand: a brand row counts any mention of the vendor, and that vendor's exam rows count the exam names separately, so the two are not a sum.
- Look up those rows in the beginner table, then open the certificate pages for cost, exam rules and the vendor's experience rule.
- Open the job's role page to see which skills the ads ask for besides certificates.
Ads name certificates alongside experience and skills, and the role page shows what else they ask for. If you are starting out, the course certificates are listed with the data-analyst figures.
When two certifications compete for the same job, our comparisons set them side by side: CAPM vs PMP, PMP vs PRINCE2, CSM vs PSM, CCNA vs CCNP, CISM vs CISSP and CISSP vs Security+. For a security career that starts from scratch, our cybersecurity roadmap puts the exams in order.
Questions people ask
What are the top certifications for jobs in the US?
There is no single list: US job ads name different certifications for each job. In October 2026 Adzuna data, the PMP appeared in 24% of 59,273 US project-manager ads and the CCNP in 20% of 9,475 US network-engineer ads. The CISSP appeared in 4.2% of 8,110 US security-analyst ads. Start from the list for the job you want, then check whether the vendor requires work experience before you choose one.
Which certification should a beginner take first?
It depends on the job, and a job's most-named certification is often one that needs work experience. In October 2026 Adzuna data the PMP appeared in 24% of 59,273 US project-manager ads, but PMI requires project experience before it grants the PMP. The table of vendor rules on this page lists, for each certification, what the vendor asks before you certify; check it before you plan around a row.
Which IT certifications are named most often in US job ads?
Each IT job has its own list of certifications that its ads name. In US job ads counted by Adzuna in October 2026, CompTIA A+ appeared in 551 of 2,745 IT-support ads and the CCNP in 1,892 of 9,475 network-engineer ads. The CISSP appeared in 4.2% of 8,110 security-analyst ads. For cloud engineers, the phrase aws certified appeared in 3.8% of 7,726 ads.
Which certifications do employers want most in 2026?
Employers name different certifications for different jobs, and a mention can be a requirement, a preference or a training benefit. In US ads counted by Adzuna in October 2026, the PMP appeared in 24% of 59,273 project-manager ads and the CSM in 22% of 946 Scrum-master ads. No certification is on every job's list.
Does the same certification have a different share in different jobs?
It can, because each share is measured within one job's ads. For ITIL, the October 2026 Adzuna count gives 7.5% of 2,745 US IT-support ads and 1.2% of 59,273 US project-manager ads. Use the share for the job you are applying to. The table of certifications counted in more than one job sets PMP, ITIL, Security+ and AWS side by side.
Do US data-analyst job ads ask for a certification?
Of the 6,094 US data-analyst ads Adzuna returned for October 2026, 7 named the Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate and 4 named the Microsoft PL-300 exam. SQL, a skill, appeared in 42% of the ads for US data analysts. We count only two certificates for this job.
Why does the CompTIA row count more than one exam?
Because we search the brand phrase comptia, so any ad that contains the word is counted: an ad that names a CompTIA exam or the brand alone, or says CompTIA is preferred. In US IT-support ads counted by Adzuna in October 2026, the CompTIA phrase appeared in 20% of 2,745 ads. CompTIA A+, Network+ and Security+ have their own rows.