SSCP before CISSP?

gphilips

Out of curiosity, I was curious if anyone here had pursued SSCP prior to sitting for the CISSP?

Reason I ask, my department is pushing heavily for everyone to hit the CISSP around the 5 year experience mark. Totally makes sense, based on both the (ISC)2 requirement for experience and the practical value of real world experience.

As I am quickly approaching it, I'm curious as to whether there's any value in taking the SSCP as a prerequisite to the CISSP? Having already completed Sec+ and CASP, I'm not too keen on going back into the baseline realm just for the sake of adding additional certs.

However, if those of you who have experienced both can say that the SSCP is a good prereq, either to get used to the (ISC)2 format/questions or just to brush up, I'm a willing listener who greatly appreciates the experienced and sage advice of most of the pros here on TE.

Alternatively, if the SSCP is a redundancy at this point, I'm perfectly willing to listen to that point of view too.

SteveLavoie

This year I did SSCP in Feb and CISSP in Nov. I decided to do the SSCP before because I didn't have another security cert like Sec+, CSA+ or CASP... One of the reason why I wanted to do it was to get a feel of an ISC(2) exam, and to see how the endorsement process was. Also I wanted to get a 1 year experience waiver.

In your case, I think it will be redundant and it will only add to your membership renewal fee (65$ for SSCP + 85$ for CISSP).

yoba222

I believe the reason why the SSCP is frequently mentioned on this forum is because it is baked into the WGU curriculum.

I wouldn't take the CompTIA IT fundamentals as practice for the A+. And if I did get an IT fundamentals, I'd drop it from my resume the day I obtained A+. Would make sense to get a one year waiver though.

Likewise, I think CISSP training and practice exams are probably a better investment to prepare for the CISSP rather than the SSCP.

Cisco Inferno

you get a full SSCP if you obtain a bachelors. (wgu route)

otherwise you get the 'associate of isc2 version of the sscp' i believe.


Its not bad if you are working on a bachelors or already have the required provable experience to get the full cert.
It also recertifies any Sec+ one may have.

ITSec14

I thought about doing the SSCP first as well, but it still doesn't have much recognition so I decided to go straight for the CISSP exam and passed it this past October. Seeing that you have the CASP, CEH and Sec+ I don't really feel like the SSCP is worth it. You should be able to study for the CISSP and pass it in a relatively short amount of time.

gphilips

all,

Thank you very much for the insight. I was leaning away from taking a certification just to take one, so it's good to hear those comments to go ahead and bypass SSCP in lieu of the CISSP.

I'll now start digging through the "Passed CISSP" and other related reports for studying success.

Again, many thanks!

Cisco Inferno

Id recommend it if you didnt have CASP and CEH. Ya give CISSP a try. I know most people try SSCP to get a feel of how (ISC)2 words questions.

Mide

I got my SSCP a few years ago and it was my first cert after around 15 years of experience. I mainly wanted to see how taking a security cert test was all about. I did learn a good amount of stuff from the book material as well.

What I did notice was that no recruiters/HR folks in my state know what a SSCP is. Only Sec+, CEH, and CISSP are on their radar. So for you, since you already have a few baseline security certs, it would 'not' be worth it to get the SSCP. Just concentrate on the CISSP and run with it.

TechGuru80

The SSCP is similar to the Security+ as far as the level it is intended. If you were around 2 years experience, it might make sense to quickly pick up the SSCP and then move onto the CISSP because it's basically just a few less domains covered. If you are 3.5 years or closer, I definitely would just go straight for the CISSP...and since you already have Security+ and CASP, you probably have seen a lot of the domains.