Worth it to renew SSCP?

vsecgod

Hey guys, so I got my SSCP a few years back, been maintaining it and paying the AMF's but since I'm starting to study for the CISSP, I was wondering if there is any value in keeping the SSCP maintained. Apart from it being cool on your resume to have, what other reasons am I missing? I know with the 5yr experience thing that the CISSP requires, having a SSCP will shave off a year on that but I have the Sec+ cert to fill in instead when the time comes as I don't think having both SSCP and Sec+ will stack. In the long term, will it hurt if I didn't have it renewed?

Khaos1911

I plan on keeping mines up until I have my CISSP, but that's a couple of years away for me. I refuse to do all that studying and pay that price tag to be a damn associate.

Grafixx01

Why wouldn't you keep it? I mean, ANYTHING that you do for the SSCP, if there are CE requirements, would constitute for the Sec+. Sec+ is also just like an intro type cert, SSCP is higher, just look at the DoD 8570.1m requirements. You'll be offered more with the SSCP over Sec+. I have my CISSP and even was thinking about the SSCP before I got my CISSP. Even if I did get the SSCP, and then got my CISSP, I'd still keep the SSCP. Now, renewing the Sec+ when I have CISSP... That is questionable.

Doyen

Would CPEs count for both SSCP and CISSP if you have them both?

Khaos1911

Nope, Doyen. From my understanding, you'll have to pay fees for both the SSCP and CISSP, as well as keep up CPE's for both. No thanks, Graf. At the point I want to sit for CISSP I'll have my GIAC certs out of the way and a couple more years of InfoSec experience. SSCP has served it's purpose for me and is no longer needed. To each his own though

vsecgod

Ok thanks for the input guys. I won't renew then. I'm already in the security field and I just wanted to make sure there wasn't anything I was missing if I don't renew. I don't feel like keeping both SSCP and soon to be CISSP maintained. SSCP was more of a stepping stone to get into the field so now that I'm in, I think I can just let it go...:)

Doyen

Wow, that is odd how they would do it that way instead of just doing that with the highest certification. I assume it is the same way if you had the CISSP certification and on of the specialize CISSP certifications?

JDMurray

An event that will earn you CPEs can only be associated with one of your (ISC)2 certs. However, that same event can be used with other cert vendors that also collect CPEs (e.g., GIAC, CompTIA, EC-Council). (ISC)2 will also roll your CPEs forward if you have collected more CPEs than you need for your annual quota.

Doyen

I was waiting for what JDMurray was going to say since he is the only one that I know of in Techexams that has both the CISSP and the SSCP certifications active at the same time. Thank you for that insight. So it looks like you will have two jars to fill and will have to decide which jar to invest that CPE juice into. I am also guessing ISSA, ISACA, & ISC2 chapter meetings can squeeze enough CPE juice to fill multiple jars at once.

EDIT:
Out of curiosity JDMurray, why did you decide to keep your SSCP certification active? A lot of members on here are quick to toss it away after achieving CISSP.

JDMurray

I keep my SSCP active because my employer pays for annual cert renewals. One day when that is no longer the case, I will probably drop the SSCP.

As for collecting CPEs, attending just a few conferences a year will earn you more than enough CPEs for your annual requirement for both the CISSP and SSCP. For example, in August I'm attending BSidesLV (16 hours) and Defcon 22 (32 hours) in the same week in Las Vegas. That's 48 CPEs right there. Throw on to that an ISSA annual symposium (8 hours) and 8-10 ISSA monthly chapter meetings (16-20 hours) a year and I'm more than set for my annual CPE collection. I really don't need to think about where my CPEs are coming from on any given year.

Doyen

Wow, I can see now that CPEs are not as hard to come by as I thought they would be. Besides learning interesting topics, I can see how IT conference have a lot of participation from professionalss in the field. Thank you JDMurray +rep

chickenlicken09

hi folks, my sscp is up for renewal on the 30th of June. I cant decide if its worth paying the 60 euro fee to do this? what do you think?
what should i be taking into consideration?

TheFORCE

Keep it.

chickenlicken09

ok i will just couldnt make the decision!

Tongy

Although there is no direct worth in having it on the CV, I would maintain it for 2 reasons:
1. I worked hard to get it
2. It might make your CV stand out from someone else, giving you a small (but potentially) significant advantage in the increasingly crowded marketplace.

I personally think that it doesn't get the recognition that it deserves and should be held in higher regard by employers, and by extension employees because it added to my knowledge and was not an easy exam to prepare for or pass.

I will keep mine going however I might let me Sec+ lapse.

ajs1976

Some of the info in this thread may be a little outdated. Take a look at the Multiple Credentials section on page 5: https://www.isc2.org/uploadedfiles/(isc)2_member_content/cpes/cpe_guidelines.pdf