Is the ITIL certification worth it? What 298 job postings say
298 open job postings from 163 employers name ITIL certification. 32% require it; the rest list it as a nice-to-have. It's asked for most in networking jobs, where 4% of postings name it.
32% of the 298 postings that name it require it. It also appears in early-career postings: 8% are junior or intern roles.
- Employers name it
- 16314th of 40 we track
- Require it
- 32%of postings that name it
- Level
- Entry levelPeopleCert: “Foundation”
Who should take it?
Built from what the 298 postings ask for, not from opinions.
Take it if you…
- target employers that screen for it32% of the postings that name it require it
- are early in your career8% of the postings that name it are junior or intern roles
Recognition: recognised by a narrower set of employers, 14th of 40 by the number of employers that name it (163). We can't yet measure whether ITIL certification gets a particular person hired: that needs outcomes from people who earned it.
How much it counts in each kind of job
Share of each job family's postings that name ITIL certification, and how many of those require it.
Job titles
ITIL certification shows up most in Service Delivery Manager, Network Engineer and Site Reliability Engineer postings. Ranked by the number of different employers, so one big hirer can't fill the list.
| Job (level and location removed) | Employers | Postings |
|---|---|---|
| Service Delivery Manager | 6 | 7 |
| Network Engineer | 4 | 5 |
| Site Reliability Engineer | 3 | 5 |
| Service Desk Engineer | 3 | 3 |
| IT Engineer | 3 | 3 |
| Service Desk Technician | 3 | 3 |
Required or a plus?
How the 298 postings that name ITIL certification ask for it.
Who it's for: seniority
Level stated in the job title, 126 postings.
Who asks for it
Employers with the most postings
- Computer World Services · 43
- Spektrum · 17
- Accenture Federal Services · 7
- Five9 · 7
- Xsolla · 7
- Ensono · 5
- Rackner · 5
- Radiant · 5
- Agile Defense · 3
- True Zero Technologies · 3
Where the jobs are
39% are fully remote (of 180 postings that say).
60% of the postings are in the United States: the job boards we read lean towards US tech companies, so other markets are under-represented.
What these jobs pay
Advertised US base pay in postings that name ITIL certification and publish a salary range (118 postings).
Often asked for together
Other certifications named in the same postings as ITIL certification.
Share of the postings that name ITIL certification. Postings often list several certifications as alternatives (“CISSP, CISM or equivalent”).
Exam and requirements
ITIL Foundation (ITIL 4 and Version 5). From the official PeopleCert pages, checked 14 November 2026. Formats change: confirm before you book.
Sources: PeopleCert: ITIL 4 Foundation, PeopleCert: ITIL Foundation (Version 5).
How we count
- Source. 199,799 unique open postings from company job boards on Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby, crawled November 2026.
- Named only. A posting counts when it names ITIL certification, not the bare word “certified”. Certifications offered as a benefit (“we pay for your exam”) don't count.
- Required or a plus. Read from the section and the sentence the mention sits in.
- Checked by hand. In 150 random matches the extractor had never seen, 148 named the right certification and 147 had the right type.
- Minimum sample. Seniority, locations and pay are shown only with at least 30 postings behind them.
- Limits. A posting is what an employer asks for, not who they hire. The boards lean towards tech companies and the US.
FAQ
Is ITIL certification worth it in 2026?
It depends on the job you're aiming at. 163 employers name it in 298 open postings, most often in networking (4% of that family's postings). 32% require it. For those jobs it can decide whether your application gets past the first screen.
Will ITIL certification help me get an entry-level job?
It appears in early-career postings more than most certifications: 8% of the postings that state a level are junior or intern roles. Most still ask for experience alongside it.
How much do jobs that ask for ITIL certification pay?
US postings that name it and publish a salary advertise a median base pay of $135K (middle half $103K–$160K, 118 postings). Compared with a job without a certification at the same company, same job family and level, they advertise the same. That's what the job pays, not what the certificate adds.
Which certifications are asked for together with ITIL certification?
Most often CompTIA A+ / Network+ / CySA+ / CASP+ (named in 21% of the same postings), CompTIA Security+ (named in 17% of the same postings) and PMP (named in 15% of the same postings).
Not sure a certification is your gap?
See all 40 certifications side by side, or check the skills employers in your target role ask for.