11 Lucrative Certifications that Pay Well in 2024

Introduction

Today, I am discussing with you 11 lucrative certifications that pay well and can help you get a remote job in 2024 all of these are affordable, some of which will be borderline free, and all of those you can do online from anywhere in the world. You’ll read what I’m writing about later in the article. Some of them you can complete in as little as a few weeks, and I’ve got a wide range of career types.

So, some certifications will appeal to you whether you’re creative, good with technology, or a business-type person. So, if you appreciate me writing these blog posts, go through the article and comment below. Let’s jump into it right now.

1- Meta Social Media Marketing

Number one on the list is a Meta Social Media Marketing certificate. All right, so Coursera offers this one. This partnership with Facebook, Meta, and Coursera can help you land your first job in the business or marketing industry. Digital marketing is a precious skill to learn, and according to fewer advertising promotions and marketing managers, you make about $138,000 a year. Still, typically, you’re probably going to start with more of a lower-level social media marketing manager job. According to Glassdoor, they make about $50,000 to $82,000 a year.

You might also become a social media specialist, and they make about $46,000 to $69,000 a year. So, this is a six-course series. It does have a 4.9-star rating, and that’s with over 15,000 reviews. So, 15,000 people have taken this course and given it a 4.9-star rating. That is pretty good. They say it will take about five months if you work on it for five hours weekly.

But honestly, with all of these Coursera certificates, you can usually complete them much faster, probably a few weeks to two months now if you can compare that to a college degree, which typically takes 5.1 years on average, or boot camp, which usually takes anywhere from three months to an entire year. That is lightning fast. So, yeah, this is an excellent one to take.

It’s also great when you take these certificates because you don’t have to spend much determining if you like the career and the subject. So often, if someone is unsure what career I go into or which topics they want, I tell them to go to Coursera and take some of these different certificates and certifications to see which one they resonate with. 

2- Google UX Design

The following certification will be the Google UX Design certificate. I promise not all will be Google certificates. Although Google certificates are fantastic, this will help you get your first job in UX design and user experience. So, when you go to a website with an excellent user interface or user experience, it’s usually highly intuitive. So you know where everything is without even having to think.

So, this one is typically good for creative types; many people like to go into this career now. Glassdoor says UX designers make about $74,000 to $122,000 a year. So, this is often a six-figure level job, which is crazy because you don’t need a college degree or previous experience to get into it. I will tell you right now that this will be one of the harder ones to get into on the list because many artists want to get paid to do art.

So you’ll have to have a killer portfolio and probably take this certification and several others, but that doesn’t mean this certification isn’t good. It just means the job market is a little more competitive, so overall, it’s perfect. One has excellent reviews online. Just know that you’re going to have to have a killer portfolio. 

3- Salesforce Sales Operations

The following certification is going to be the Salesforce Sales Operations certificate. Salesforce is a CRM that many different sales teams use throughout the entire market in the United States and many other countries. So, being familiar with this CRM and software is a pretty good idea. But yeah, Sales Operations Specialists make about $52,000 to $79,000 annually. It’s also another one that’s relatively easy to get into.

You don’t need a college degree or previous experience. By the way, with many of these different Coursera certificates, employees are designing a lot of the curriculum. So this is what they are looking for in real-time, correct? They’re developing the curriculum because they don’t have enough people out there with the skills they’re looking for, and this particular certificate has four different courses in it.

So, you start with the sales and CRM overview and then move into lead management in Salesforce. You move into opportunity management in Salesforce and then into reports dashboards and customer success in Salesforce. So yeah, another reasonable sales force is super valuable to learn, and my favourite industry to work in when it comes to sales is tech sales.

4- Google Project Management

The following certification will be the Google Project Management certificate, probably one of my top three favourite certificates. This one is good, and that’s why 1.3 million people have taken this certificate, and it has a 4.9-star rating.

Now, there are six different courses that you would take in this certificate program:

1. Foundations and Project Management
2. Project Initiation: Starting a Successful Project
3. Project Planning: Putting It All Together
4. Project Execution: Running the Project
5. Agile Project Management
6. Capstone course: Applying Project Management in the Real World

They say it will take six months and is 100% self-paced. But again, this is one that you can efficiently finish in a month or two. They say the median entry-level salary is $73,000 annually, and 75% of Google certificate grads report career improvement. There are 47,000 total job openings in project management, and when you finish these certificates, you get to connect with over 150 US employers. So they give you access to an exclusive job board. In project management, you generally make about $77,000 to $129,000 yearly in a lower-level position. Like the project coordinator, you’d still make $49,000 to $75,000 a year.

So yeah, this one has excellent ratings online. Even the most negative, cynical people have nothing wrong to say about this course. Of course, there are other certificates and certification programs that you can take that will add to your knowledge and make it even easier for you to get a project management job. But yeah, this one is not—a wrong choice for like 99 of the people out there. 

5- Google I.T. Support

The following certification is going to be the Google I.T. Support certificate. And this might be my number one favourite certificate. This was the first certificate Google came out with when they partnered with Coursera; almost 1.4 million people have taken it. Even though it’s a few years old, it still has a 4.8-star rating. This one will help you get into many different IT-related, entry-level jobs.

So, for instance, help desk technicians make $47,000 to $69,000 a year, system analysts earn $91,000 to $235,000 a year, and of course, later down the line, you might get into a job like It director, and they make $160,000 to $257,000 a year. So, it’s well-paying at entry-level, medium-level, and well-paid when you get a few years in. Countless posts have been from people hired with just this certificate alone.

Is it reasonable to boost your knowledge with other certificates or online courses or learn from free YouTube videos or Khan Academy? Absolutely. It’s still a good idea to do that, but the fact that these certificates even give you a puncher’s chance of getting a job when they only cost $49 a month is ridiculous. I mean, these certificates are absolutely the best bang for the buck out there. So yeah, you have got to love these. All right.

6- Google Digital Marketing & E-Commerce

The following certifications on the list are Google Digital Marketing and E-Commerce certifications. This is one of my least favourites, but it’s still relatively good. My big bone to pick with this one is that there are so many different types of digital marketing, and there’s no way. You can go deep enough on any one of those different types. If you’re teaching people digital marketing in general, with that being said, over 400,000 people enrolled. And it still has about a 4.8 or 4.7-star rating.

So people are happy with the value. They’re getting considering they only spend $49 a month. Like I said, this one probably won’t get you a job alone. But at the very least, it might help you pick the type of digital marketing that you want to do. You’ll learn the surface-level basics of that type of digital marketing.

Here are some salaries for different types of digital marketing roles. So, marketing coordinators make about $48,000 to $72,000 a year, email marketing specialists earn $52,000 to $81,000 a year, and a higher level role like a digital marketing manager makes $71,000 to $120,000 yearly. So yeah, it’s one of my least favourites, but it’s still perfect. 

7- Google Data Analytics

The following certification on the list might be tied for number one, or it might honestly just even edge out. The Google I.T. Support certificate is number one: the Google data analytics certificate. I love this one, as do many others, and that’s why 1.8 million people have taken this course. It still has a 4.8-star rating. Now, data analytics is a job you can get without a college degree and previous experience, but you still have to have the skills. This is a highly skilled job, and that’s where this certificate comes in.

It can teach you many skills you need to know to get the job. Now, chances will also have to buffer that with some extra skills, you know, learning things online, taking other certificates, taking online courses, or just watching free videos on YouTube or Khan Academy, and you’ll have to build a portfolio. But the course helps you make the portfolio. If you type in data analysis on LinkedIn, you will see 578,000 results at the entry level for jobs.

There is a ridiculous amount of demand for these skills, and data analysts make $66,000 to $103,000 a year for business analysts, which is very close to making around $75,000 to $115,000 a year and a higher level position like principal data analysts make $159,000 to $247,000 a year. Now I remember I went around and asked every data analyst or data scientist that I knew what they would do if they were starting over to get into a data analyst physician.

Almost everyone said they would take this Google data analyst certificate first. So yeah, this one is freaking awesome. It’s probably my favourite certificate. It’s kind of up there with the I.T. help desk one, but the I.T. help desk one is a little older. So, I feel like this one has probably become number one.

8- Web Design for Everybody: Basics of Web Development & Coding

The following certification will be Web Design for Everybody: Basics of Web Development & Coding. So this is another perfect one. The University of Michigan offers it, but it’s still on Coursera, and about 296,000 people have already enrolled. So, I’ll be honest: I haven’t looked into this one as deeply as I have the others. I haven’t even made a dedicated article for this one. Meanwhile, I write a genuine article for most of the others I mentioned, but basically, you’re going to learn to design and create websites and web developers, making about $70,000 to $115,000 a year.

Now, web development used to be easy to get into and is the most accessible type of coding, but then many people started learning how to do it online. A bunch of boot camps opened up. Now, it’s somewhat saturated, and I mean saturated. But really, it’s not that saturated. It’s, like, soggy for tech. This means you won’t have recruiters constantly reaching out to get you to come to their company. The thing is, you have to have the skills now. It used to be that if you just had a pulse and knew a little bit about coding, you could get hired now. You have to have the skills.

The upside to these careers is that you can get into them without a college degree. Without previous experience, the downside to that is you have first to have the skills and then prove that you have the skills, and typically, the way you’re going to do that is by building an outstanding portfolio. But the truth is, that is easier said than done. Now, it looks like this one has about a 4.7 to 4.8-star rating, which means most people are pleased with it, and that makes sense considering again. It’s only $49 a month. But I will tell you, web development is a bit harder to get into than many others on this list.

By the way, if you’re enjoying this article and you think of anybody else out there who could also enjoy it, whether it’s a friend, a family member, or someone who needs to get a job, go ahead and share this article with them. All right. 

9- IBM Data Science

The following certification is going to be the IBM Data Science Certificate. So this is another excellent one with about a 4.6-star rating, and 245,000 people have taken it. The crazy thing is you can earn up to 15 college credits by taking this certificate. Now, don’t get me wrong. This course is fantastic, but if you’re trying to land a role as a data scientist.

You’ll probably not have an elementary time doing it with just certificates alone. It’s possible, but you must be like a borderline genius. A much more innovative way to do it is to become a data analyst first and then get some experience. Take some more certificates, and then you can pivot to becoming a data scientist. Now, this one is pretty extensive.

It has a total of 10 courses in it.

1. What is Data Science
2. Tools for Data Science
3. Data Science Methodology
4. Python for Data Science, A.I. & Development
5. Python Project for Data Science
6. Data Science & SQL for Data Science with Python
7. Data Analysis with Python
8. Data Visualization with Python
9. Machine Learning with Python
10. Applied Data Science Capstone

it says it takes about five months to complete, but most of the reports on Reddit show about two months or so. Coursera says that data science-related jobs make about $112,000 a year on the website. Now, one thing that Coursera does that they would clarify is they say that 26% of certificate grads started a new career, and I wish they would say, you know what time frame that was also what type of career was it like, was it anything related to data, for instance? But yeah, this one is still perfect. 

10- IBM DevOps & Software Engineering

Another IBM certification will be the IBM DevOps and Software Engineering certificate. They say this is beginner level, but in my experience, DevOps is more than the beginner. You’re probably not going from zero tech experience to a DevOps role. Still, DevOps is one of the most valuable and sought-after types of software engineering and DevOps Engineers. Make $103,000 to $148,000 a year. They have some impressive professors or teachers working at IBM in this certificate.

Now, this one is a 14-course series:

1. Introduction to DevOps
2. Introduction to Cloud Computing
3. Introduction to Agile Development & Scrum
4. Hands-on Introduction to Linux Commands & Shell Scripting
5. Getting Started with Git & Github
6. Python for Data Science, AI & Development
7. Developing AI applications with Python & Flask
8. Introduction to Containers w/Dockers, Kubernetes & OpenShift
9. Applications Development using Microservices & Serverless
10. Introduction to Test & Behavior-Driven Development
11. Continues Integration & Continues Delivery (CI/CD)
12. Application Security for Development & DevOps Professionals
13. Monitoring & Observability for Development & DevOps
14. DevOps Capstone Project

So yeah, another perfect one. I want to check out if you’re interested in going into DevOps.

11- IBM Cyber Security Analyst

The following certification will be the IBM Cyber Security Analyst certificate. So this is another pretty good one. One has a 4.6-star rating with 173,000 people that have enrolled. You can also earn up to 10 credits. If you’re going to college, there are many cybersecurity opportunities. It is another one of those where you do have the suitable skills.

Imagine a company putting you in charge of cybersecurity when they’re not sure you have the skills to do that, and then someone breaks in and steals all their customer’s data. How are they going to explain that in court? Just think about it. You have to have the skills, but with that being said, there is a massive demand for people with these skills.

Now, I will be honest: typically, what you see is people go into I.T. first, and then they go into cybersecurity. You rarely see people going from zero tech experience to cybersecurity right off that. But you do see people getting a college degree in something cyber security related and then going into cyber security right off that. But yeah, a cybersecurity analyst. This position is growing at 31% over the next ten years, according to BLS, absolutely wild.

Now, this one has eight courses in it:

1. Introduction to Cybersecurity Tools & Cyber Attack
2. Cybersecurity Roles, Processes & Operating System Security
3. Cybersecurity Compliance Framework & System Administration
4. Network Securities & Database Vulnerabilities
5. Penetration Testing, Incident Respons & Forensics
6. Cyber Threat Intelligence
7. Cybersecurity Capstone: Breach Response Case Studies
8. IBM Cybersecurity Analyst Assessment

Many people say that if you study hard online, you can finish it in about a month if you study it kind of gradually. It’ll take me two months or so. Now, as a junior cybersecurity analyst, you’d probably make around $84,000 a year, and for higher level jobs, like security architect, you’d make $176,000 to $278,000 ridiculous.

How to Choose Such Certifications that Pay Well

Choosing the proper certification for your career goals can be difficult but not impossible.

There are some factors that you should consider before making a decision:

• You should assess your skills and interests and see what certification matches them.
• You should research the certification’s market demand and salary potential and see if it matches your expectations.
• You should compare the cost and duration of the certification program and see if it fits your budget and schedule.
• You should look for reputable and accredited certification providers and see if they provide quality training and support.
• You should evaluate the certification requirements and benefits and see if they are worth the effort and investment.

By following these steps, you can narrow your options and find the best certification that pays well. Remember, certification is not a guarantee of success but a tool to enhance your skills and credibility and help you stay ahead of the competition. You still need to work hard, network, and update your knowledge. A certification can help you stand out, but it’s up to you to make the most of it.

I hope you will get some help from today’s blog post; if yes, then comment below and share your experience and also share with those people who also have an interest like you in the online certifications. If you didn’t read our last post on remote jobs by the title “19 Best Remote Jobs That Don’t Require a Degree” go right now, click on the title, and read it. That’s all for today. Bye & Take care.