Passed CySa+ 11/9/18 - Stackable Certs?

AaronW1994

So I passed CySa+ on Tuesday with a 793! Over the moon to pass, as I wasn't 100% confident with it before walking into the exam. Threat Management was posing a little bit of problem but it's in the past now haha

Got an email to say that I now have CSAP (Cyber Security Analytics Professional)...are these really worth anything? Or are they one of CompTIA's marketing departments good ideas? I've never seen a job advertisement asking for one, or even anyone talking about them haha.

Thoughts?

PsychoData91

TBH? I'd think they're more marketing than anything else. The names are not well-recognized enough, and the only thing I would see them doing is getting you passed over by HR/someone because they dont realize that saying you have a "CompTIA Security Analytics Professional" means you have a Security+ and a CySA+.
or CompTIA Network Security Professional which is Security+ and PenTest+ and CySA+
or CompTIA Security Infrastructure Expert which is Security+ and CySA+ and PenTest+ and CASP
or CompTIA Network Infrastructure Professional which is Network+ and Server+


imho they're not going to be much use for official/resume type use, because I wouldn't want to risk them being misconstrued. but they might be slightly useful if you wanted to show that you are certed across a variety of the CompTIA certs without listing out 4 at once.
CompTIA Stackable Certifications

Then again..

CompTIA Security Infrastructure Expert
Security+, CySA+, PenTest+, CASP

It's shorter just to list them all out than the long-form name so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
If you wanted to put some more fluff on the resume and fill in something, maybe but I dont see where it would be useful otherwise. Except to maybe get someone like me to go back after I passed CySA+ and Pen+ and take the Sec+ because now I am not going to be in line to get any of the stackable certs. Same with getting me to go back and take Net+ or Linux+ (although I AM looking at doing the beta of that, cause betas are CHEAP)

ThePawofRizzo

I printed off the stackable certs certificates I have that are specific to security, and hung them on my office wall. We have an IT security manager who likes to stop by our offices and explain the most basic, rudimentary security concepts to us as if we're ignorant and he's an "expert". He nice enough, but goofy with so much ego on his part: "Paul Blart, mall cop" ego. Now, when he comes in my office I point at my certs and say, "I already know." He thinks the stackable certs are more impressive than they are, so they serve my purpose well! Otherwise, I don't see them providing much. Maybe in some time the referenced acronyms may be useful on a resume, but for now I'd just add the specific certs.

krebs199

So, I suppose its about he job your looking for. I work in K-12. My hiring manager knows nothing about IT. Having listed 15 certs on my resume. It looks better than 10 certs on a resume, no matter what they are worth.

Some background... I'm and IT director for a K-12 in NY. I make pretty good money. I've been in IT for nearly 20 years now. I hold around 20 certs, including a number of CompTIA certs (more info on that later). The person above me is essentially the CFO. She has no idea what my job entails - she just wants her email to work, and so long as I respond to her quickly everything is well.

I have A+, N+, Sec+, Cloud+, CDIA+, MCT, MCP, MTA, MCITP, MCDST, MCSA (x2), VCA, HP AIS, and a handful of others. I got my A+ most recently. Not because I needed it, but because by getting it I qualified for 2 more stackable CompTIA certs. What are they worth? I dunno. Probably nothing if I was applying for Google. But for K12 in NY - more than not. I didn't study for them and I got a 680ish out of 700 or whatever the max was. Work paid for it. So, to my boss, I'm now CSIS (which sounds awesome, when she thinks about Security), but to me, I'm nothing more than I was a few weeks ago. To each their own.

JDMurray

The "stackable" concept is a marketing device used to entice people into acquiring more CompTIA certs and nothing more.

charismaticx

The stackable certs sounds cool but hold no real value. It’s more of an incentive to keep progressing to a specialized path. At the end of the day CASP renews everything.