Employer giving away free IT vouchers, which is easiest?...just a few choices

crazyl

So my employer is giving away free IT vouchers for the below courses and I figure that all 3 will be hard. I don't take exams well. I have about 20 years of IT experience in Infrastructure and Security. I hold an MCSE2012, SEC+, Network+, and A+ and maybe another themed variant of the above that I have forgotten about.

Everything that I have read here indicate that all of the below exams are difficult. I just want to take what I can get and pick the easiest of these 3. I might do all 3, but would like your thoughts on which would be the easiest and hardest etc.

1) Cloud+
2) CASP
3) (CISM) Certified Information Security Manager

Thank you.

NetworkNewb

I would assume Cloud+ would definitely be the easiest. But the other 2 sounds like they might be more inline for you. (depending on your goals) I mean... What is the ROI in with the Cloud+? Do you gain much from getting that? I wouldn't waste my time going for that cert even it was free. Just my 2 cents.

GirlyGirl

NetworkNewb wrote: »

I would assume Cloud+ would definitely be the easiest. But the other 2 sounds like they might be more inline for you. (depending on your goals) I mean... What is the ROI in with the Cloud+? Do you gain much from getting that? I wouldn't waste my time going for that cert even it was free. Just my 2 cents.

what he said.

EANx

How difficult exams are depends on you and your level of experience. All exams require some amount of effort and for most, the return is based on the effort expended. Ergo, the harder it it, the better your return for passing. What you want out of your career is up to you.

GirlyGirl

crazyl wrote: »

So my employer is giving away free IT vouchers for the below courses and I figure that all 3 will be hard. I don't take exams well. I have about 20 years of IT experience in Infrastructure and Security. I hold an MCSE2012, SEC+, Network+, and A+ and maybe another themed variant of the above that I have forgotten about.

Everything that I have read here indicate that all of the below exams are difficult. I just want to take what I can get and pick the easiest of these 3. I might do all 3, but would like your thoughts on which would be the easiest and hardest etc.

1) Cloud+
2) CASP
3) (CISM) Certified Information Security Manager

Thank you.

Let me give you some advice before you give me bad rep or something. Because if you give me bad rep my heart will be torn into pieces.

Personally, I feel that (passing) the CISM exam would be more beneficial for you career wise.
The Certification is blowing up job boards. I just went to indeed and received back over 3,000 hits.
With that in mind, the certification alone would stand out on your resume and I think get you calls.
The three CompTia certs are not anything that would stick out to a recruiter(offering large sums of money). I was literally looking at a Help Desk Job today asking for MCSE. Like under minimal requirements.

If you just want a (useless) cert that is "easy", I would assume Cloud+ would be the easiest of the three. People are frequently failing the CASP exams. But, I can't gauge the difficulty based off of posts on this one site.

So, in the reverse order of what you listed I feel would be the most beneficial. I really want to exclude Cloud+ but if you force my hand I'll include it.

iBrokeIT

GirlyGirl wrote: »

Personally, I feel that (passing) the CISM exam would be more beneficial for you career wise.

Agreed, adding another CompTIA feather to your cap isn't going to attract the interest in your skills like CISM would.

yoba222

Easy cert that's expensive, yet has good ROI? I'm surprised nobody's suggested the CEH yet.

You don't need to do any labs to pass. It's multiple choice and the content is basically half infosec common sense and half tool regurgitation. It's like $800, so the value of doing it free is high, and HR absolutely loves it for some reason. Do a job search on it and see for yourself.

Plus you get to put Certified Ethical Hacker in your signature or in your LinkedIn profile like I see some people do.

I think CEH is the ideal cert for what you're looking for.

crazyl

Thanks everyone. I am already well established in my career and living in the DC Metro area. I have Offensive and Defensive Cyber experience. I hate Defensive Cyber, but that is where most of the work is. I hold a high level clearance and can do whatever I want. What I am trying to say here is that I don't want to stay idle and don't want to give up free certs. The certs don't seem to matter. I can make mid to upper 100k salaries if I wish. Thanks for your thoughts so far. On the CEH...well they aren't offering it for free yet.

ITSec14

yoba222 wrote: »

Easy cert that's expensive, yet has good ROI? I'm surprised nobody's suggested the CEH yet.

You don't need to do any labs to pass. It's multiple choice and the content is basically half infosec common sense and half tool regurgitation. It's like $800, so the value of doing it free is high, and HR absolutely loves it for some reason. Do a job search on it and see for yourself.

Plus you get to put Certified Ethical Hacker in your signature or in your LinkedIn profile like I see some people do.

I think CEH is the ideal cert for what you're looking for.

CEH is a good way to get through the HR screenings, but I would not depend on it when it comes to interviewing with hiring manager. Many of the folks in our SOC team think that cert's a joke.

E Double U

yoba222 wrote: »

I'm surprised nobody's suggested the CEH yet.

1. CEH is not one of the three courses his employer is offering vouchers for.
2. CISM makes the most sense for someone with 20 years of IT experience in Infrastructure and Security.

ukiltmybrutha

Great responses and information here. My situation and locale is similar.

yoba222

The OP happens to be:

1) Looking for an easy ride
2) Motivated to study for something just because it's free

Normally I wouldn't recommend the CEH to anyone. But if you want an overpriced cert that doesn't require much effort, yet mesmerizes HR, the CEH is my top recommendation. Doesn't seem to be a choice here though after all.