Associate of SSCP worth it?

Aaronsmity

I have a bachelors degree in management information systems and was an IT auditor for 2 years before being laid off in 2009. At the time I was studying for the SSCP which was going to be paid for by my employer at that time. After I was laid off I put all my efforts into finding another job and put the SSCP on the backburner. I find myself employed in a different field completely unrelated to security and really lacking any kind of gained technical or security experience from this job. I want to try to pursue something in information security but I find that the field I am in now is harder to transition into that role. When I was an IT auditor it was much easier path.

I guess my question is, would it be worth it to be an associate of SSCP to find a job or is it just useless? Seems to me just passing a test but lacking any job experience would be a waste of time and effort. Anyone out there just have an associate of SSCP and received job offers or even interviewed with this credential?

Thanks.

YFZblu

Probably not worth it at the SSCP level; if you have to live with the 'associate' designation, you might as well go all the way and grab the CISSP.

You do make a good point, a true SSCP or CISSP is inherently valuable because there is experience to go along with it. That being said I do think we have some Associate CISSP's who post here, hopefully they can give some solid advice. The CISSP is so marketable as it is, simply having it on your resume, even if it is an Associate, will still show up in a lot of keyword searches recruiters do. Which IMO, is a large part of the battle.

Humbe

YFZblu recently I've seen a drop of salary range because of how many people are becoming CISSP. Not sure what will come next.

Khaos1911

I can definitely believe that, Humbe. Seems like people are getting that cert left and right. I'm personally starting to meet one every other day here at my job. Just like with the PMP, I wonder how soon before the "devaluing effect" takes place.

emerald_octane

Associate of (ISC)2 is good in general as you get access to ISC2 events, news, knowledge etc. All member benefits.

Associate of (ISC)2 toward SSCP? Eh...I wouldn't expect anyone to walk into infosec with this title. SSCP maybe but the problem is that there isn't much mindshare for it. Disclaimer: I'm studying for it as well, however it's just for personal edification.

Associate of (ISC)2 toward CISSP (what I have) is paying off dividends. I get infosec stuff thrown my way . "Oh this project requires infosec input, lets call Emerald_Octane, he'll know what to do".

veritas_libertas

I just don't see the value. I also don't feel like eventually paying yearly for both the SSCP and CISSP.

NovaHax

Humbe wrote: »

YFZblu recently I've seen a drop of salary range because of how many people are becoming CISSP. Not sure what will come next.

I was thinking about grabbing a concentration...probably ISSAP...to distinguish myself from the growing number of CISSPs.

JDMurray

If having the cert is primarily about getting a job then search the job postings on dice, monster, and LinkedIn to check if any employers are asking for people with the SSCP. Considering there are only about 1500 people with the SSCP cert worldwide, the SSCP is probably not very well known to employers like the CISSP with 80K+ certified and the Security+ with 200K+ certified.

jvrlopez

The only job listings I've come across asking for SSCP are from the DoD whose directive on certifications hold it on equal footing with Security+.

Once I saw that, I put away my SSCP study efforts.

Knocking off 1 of the 5 years required for CISSP might seem worthwhile if you don't have the experience.

beads

veritas_libertas wrote: »

I just don't see the value. I also don't feel like eventually paying yearly for both the SSCP and CISSP.

Agree to a point but also keep in mind there would be no need to pay for both at the same time as the CISSP certainly supersedes the SSCP, don'tcha think?

- B Eads

veritas_libertas

As I understand it, if you don't keep them all renewed you risk not being in good standing with ISC2. Can someone confirm this?

JDMurray

I have always believed it to be true that you can't just let some of your (ISC)2 certs elapse and remain "in good standing." I would certainly consider letting my SSCP elapse to save the $65 AMF if it were otherwise. Someone will need to email the (ISC)2 and ask their official position on this.

Darxtar

I am pretty sure if you hold CISSP and SSCP you can let your SSCP AMFs/CPEs lapse and it would have no effect on your CISSP as the certs focus on different roles (practioner vs. management) and I am sure ISC2 understands that an IA/ISS professional's roles change over ones career. They would not expect you to maintain a cert you had no need for. However that is obviously not the case for certs tied to CISSP such as ISSEP. While you could pay CISSP AMFs and not ISSEP (thereby losing your ISSEP cert) you could not just pay ISSEP fees without paying those of CISSP.

That being said I still pay my AMF for SSCP. In the big picture $65 a year isn't much, especially as the government pays my other AMFs.

Joel Goldstein

JDMurray wrote: »

I have always believed it to be true that you can't just let some of your (ISC)2 certs elapse and remain "in good standing." I would certainly consider letting my SSCP elapse to save the $65 AMF if it were otherwise. Someone will need to email the (ISC)2 and ask their official position on this.

I can answer this. If you have both a SSCP and a CISSP and no longer need to be a SSCP, the proper procedure is to request to have it terminated. You can do this by e-mailing Member Support at membersupport [AT] isc2.org or by calling them directly at 866-331-4722 ext 4.

However, technically you can allow your SSCP to lapse and still be in good standing.

veritas_libertas

Okay. Now that is interesting. Terminated is such a nasty word...

JDMurray

Joel Goldstein wrote: »

However, technically you can allow your SSCP to lapse and still be in good standing.

Do you have a link to this explicit statement on the ics2.org Web site?

Joel Goldstein

Unfortunately, there is nothing on the website (to my knowledge) that can confirm this. Because I didn't know the answer when I saw your post, I checked with Member Support myself to confirm. If you're looking for something in writing, my best recommendation would be to e-mail Member Support your question.

ivx502

Depends, I am keeping my SSCP because frankly it doesn't hurt having it. As far as CPE's some of the General education CPE's automatically roll over to one or the other depending on where I place it. If you can afford to keep it why not, if money is an issue then by all means let it laspe.