What certification should I get?

Four questions. We rank certifications by how often real job ads for your job name them, then check the experience each one needs and what the exam costs.

Question 1 of 4

Which job do you want?

Shortlist by job in the United States

Ranked by share of job ads (October 2026). Turn on JavaScript to filter by country, experience and goal.

AI engineer

  1. AWS AI Practitioner

    No formal entry rule; skills expectedExam fee $100

  2. AWS Machine Learning

    Entry rule not checkedExam fee $150

  3. AI-102

    Prior skills expected; no set duration

  4. AI-900

    Entry rule not checked

  5. AI-103

    Prior skills expected; no set duration

Job ads for this role in the United States rarely name a certification. Employers ask for skills instead: Python, Llm, Pytorch. See what AI engineer ads ask for

Business analyst

  1. Six Sigma

    Entry rule not checkedExam fee $434–$585 (ASQ), $250–$450 (IASSC)

  2. Tableau certification

    Vendor recommends 6 months of work experienceExam fee $200

  3. Six Sigma Green Belt

    No work experience required (IASSC) · Needs 3 years of work experience (ASQ)Exam fee $483 (ASQ), €361 (IASSC)

  4. PL-300

    No formal entry rule; skills expectedExam fee $165

  5. Microsoft Excel certification (MOS)

    No formal entry rule; skills expectedExam fee $120

Job ads for this role in the United States rarely name a certification. Employers ask for skills instead: SQL, Power BI. See what business analyst ads ask for

Cloud engineer

  1. AWS

    Entry rule not checkedExam fee $100–$300

  2. AWS Solutions Architect Associate

    Vendor recommends 1 year of work experienceExam fee $150

  3. Microsoft Azure certifications

    Entry rule not checkedExam fee $99–$165

  4. Google Associate Cloud Engineer

    Vendor recommends 6 months of work experienceExam fee $125

  5. AZ-305

    Prior skills expected; no set durationExam fee $165

Cybersecurity analyst

  1. CISSP

    Needs 4–5 years of work experienceExam fee $749

  2. CompTIA

    Entry rule not checked

  3. CISM

    Needs 5 years of work experienceExam fee $760

  4. CompTIA CySA+

    Vendor recommends 4 years of work experienceExam fee $439

  5. CompTIA Security+

    Vendor recommends 2 years of work experienceExam fee $439

Data analyst

  1. Google Data Analytics

    No work experience required$49 a month (course subscription)

  2. Tableau certification

    Vendor recommends 6 months of work experienceExam fee $200

  3. PL-300

    No formal entry rule; skills expectedExam fee $165

  4. SnowPro Core

    Vendor recommends 6 months of work experienceExam fee $175

  5. Microsoft Excel certification (MOS)

    No formal entry rule; skills expectedExam fee $120

Job ads for this role in the United States rarely name a certification. Employers ask for skills instead: SQL, Python, Power BI. See what data analyst ads ask for

Data engineer

  1. Databricks certification

    Vendor recommends 6 months of work experienceExam fee $200

  2. SnowPro Core

    Vendor recommends 6 months of work experienceExam fee $175

Job ads for this role in the United States rarely name a certification. Employers ask for skills instead: SQL, Spark, Airflow. See what data engineer ads ask for

Data scientist

  1. AWS Machine Learning

    Entry rule not checkedExam fee $150

  2. IBM Data Science

    No work experience required

Job ads for this role in the United States rarely name a certification. Employers ask for skills instead: Python, Machine Learning. See what data scientist ads ask for

DevOps engineer

  1. AWS

    Entry rule not checkedExam fee $100–$300

  2. AWS Solutions Architect Associate

    Vendor recommends 1 year of work experienceExam fee $150

  3. CKA

    No work experience requiredExam fee $445

  4. CKAD

    No work experience requiredExam fee $445

  5. Terraform Associate

    Prior skills expected; no set durationExam fee $71

Digital marketer

  1. HubSpot Academy certifications

    Entry rule not checkedFree

HR specialist

  1. SHRM-CP

    No work experience requiredExam fee $499

  2. SHRM-SCP

    Needs 3 years of work experienceExam fee $499

  3. PHR

    Needs 1–4 years of work experienceExam fee $395

  4. CIPD

    Entry rule not checkedCourse fee £1,300–£7,000

  5. CPTD

    Needs 4–5 years of work experienceExam fee $1,500

IT support

  1. CompTIA A+

    Vendor recommends 1 year of work experienceExam fee $274

  2. CompTIA

    Entry rule not checked

  3. ITIL

    Entry rule not checkedExam fee $690

  4. CompTIA Network+

    Vendor recommends 9 months of work experienceExam fee $399

  5. CompTIA Security+

    Vendor recommends 2 years of work experienceExam fee $439

Network engineer

  1. CCNP

    No work experience requiredExam fee $400

  2. CCNA

    No work experience requiredExam fee $300

  3. CompTIA

    Entry rule not checked

  4. CompTIA Network+

    Vendor recommends 9 months of work experienceExam fee $399

Penetration tester

  1. OSCP

    Entry rule not checkedExam fee $1,699

  2. CEH

    Needs 2 years of work experienceExam fee $950–$1,199

  3. CompTIA PenTest+

    Vendor recommends 3 years of work experienceExam fee $439

  4. eJPT

    Prior skills expected; no set durationExam fee $250

Product manager

  1. PSPO

    Entry rule not checkedExam fee $200

Job ads for this role in the United States rarely name a certification. Employers ask for skills instead: Roadmap, Jira. See what product manager ads ask for

Program manager

  1. PMP

    Needs 2–5 years of work experienceExam fee $655

  2. PRINCE2

    Entry rule not checkedExam fee £543

  3. Six Sigma Black Belt

    No work experience required (IASSC) · Needs 3 years of work experience (ASQ)Exam fee $585 (ASQ), $450 (IASSC)

  4. PMI-RMP

    Needs 1–3 years of work experienceExam fee $670

  5. IPMA

    Entry rule not checked

Project manager

  1. PMP

    Needs 2–5 years of work experienceExam fee $655

  2. CAPM

    No work experience requiredExam fee $300

  3. ITIL

    Entry rule not checkedExam fee $690

  4. PMI-ACP

    Needs 1–2 years of work experienceExam fee $495

  5. Six Sigma Green Belt

    No work experience required (IASSC) · Needs 3 years of work experience (ASQ)Exam fee $483 (ASQ), €361 (IASSC)

Salesforce administrator

  1. Salesforce Administrator

    Entry rule not checkedExam fee $200

Scrum Master

  1. SAFe

    No work experience requiredExam fee $495

  2. CSM

    No work experience requiredCourse fee $250–$2,495

  3. PMI-ACP

    Needs 1–2 years of work experienceExam fee $495

  4. Scrum Master

    Entry rule not checked

  5. PSM

    Entry rule not checkedExam fee $200

SOC analyst

  1. CompTIA CySA+

    Vendor recommends 4 years of work experienceExam fee $439

  2. CISSP

    Needs 4–5 years of work experienceExam fee $749

  3. CEH

    Needs 2 years of work experienceExam fee $950–$1,199

  4. CompTIA Security+

    Vendor recommends 2 years of work experienceExam fee $439

  5. SSCP

    Needs 1 year of work experienceExam fee $249

System administrator

  1. ITIL

    Entry rule not checkedExam fee $690

  2. CompTIA Linux+

    Vendor recommends 1 year of work experienceExam fee $399

  3. AZ-104

    No formal entry rule; skills expected

  4. Microsoft Azure certifications

    Entry rule not checkedExam fee $99–$165

  5. AWS SysOps / CloudOps Associate

    Vendor recommends 1 year of work experienceExam fee $150

Get your full report

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Inside: the certifications and skills AI engineer job ads name, with the share for each.

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We use AI to analyse the job-ad data and write your report. The counts come from Adzuna job ads; figures and sources are checked automatically.

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How the shortlist is ranked

For each of 20 job titles in 10 countries, we count the job ads on Adzuna that name a certification and divide by all ads for that title (October 2026). The highest share comes first.

Your answers then change the order. A certification whose required experience you lack goes after every one you can take now. One where the vendor only recommends more experience, or expects skills without a set duration, moves down a little. Choosing a promotion lifts higher levels; choosing a switch lifts entry-level ones.

Experience rules and exam fees come from each vendor's official pages. Where we have not checked an entry rule, the card says so and the share alone decides its place. The full method, with the exact search behind every number, is on our methodology page.

Certifications by field

Each field page compares the certifications of one area by job-ad share, entry rules and cost:

Questions people ask

What certification should I get?

The one that the job ads for your target job name most, among those whose entry rule you meet today. That answer differs a lot by job: the PMP (Project Management Professional) appears in 24% of the ads for US project managers, while the Google Data Analytics certificate appears in 7 of the 6,094 ads for US data analysts. Pick your job and country in the quiz to see your own order.

Which IT certification should I get first?

For IT support, the CompTIA A+: it appears in 20% of the ads for US IT support jobs, and CompTIA sets no entry requirement. For networking, the CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) appears in 16% of the ads for US network engineers, and Cisco sets no formal prerequisite either.

Can I get certified with no experience?

Yes. Of the 98 certifications the quiz can rank, 31 have no work-experience rule from their vendor. Among them are the CAPM (Certified Associate in Project Management) and the ISC2 CC (Certified in Cybersecurity). Another 13 require experience first. The PMP asks for 24 to 60 months of project work, depending on your education. The CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) asks for 5 years, or 4 with a degree.

Which certification is most in demand?

By number of ads, the PMP: 14,183 of the 59,273 ads for US project managers named it in October 2026. By share, the OSCP (Offensive Security Certified Professional) leads a smaller pool, with 73% of the ads for US penetration testers. Product manager and data analyst ads rarely name any certification, so for those jobs the skills in the ads matter more.

Which certification is best for a career change?

An entry-level one that the ads in your new field name. Choose "Switch into this field" in the quiz and certifications without an experience rule move up. In project management that means the CAPM before the PMP, since the PMP needs at least 24 months of project experience.