CISSP isn’t as technical anymore

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Several of my friends passed the CISSP exam recently, and told me that it isn’t as technical as I told them it would be.

They said it was more of a security manager certification.

2014 Top Paying Certs (United States)

Below is a list of the top paying certs for 2014 (including average salary amount).

The list is based on the 2014 IT Skills and Salary Survey conducted by Global Knowledge and Penton, completed in October 2013.

After the list, I offer a few comments on some of the certs and the salaries.

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CISA vs. CIA Certification

If you’re an IT auditor (or want to be one) and don’t have any audit certifications, which certification should you get, the CISA or the CIA? If you want to get both, which one do you get first?

Full disclosure: I have the CISA, but not the CIA. Back when the CIA was 4 exams, I studied for all the CIA exams except the financial exam, but ended up not taking any of the exams. I also have the CISSP.

Top 7 Reasons for Security Certification

Here’s my top 7 reasons for getting a security certification:

1. It opens the hiring door. Or more simply stated, employers are looking for them. More and more, if you’re not certified, your resume won’t get past Human Resources. When they scan your application and resume, you’ll end up in the digital delete bucket if the screening software doesn’t see those special letters (CISSP, GIAC, CISA, CCSP, CISM, etc.).

How to Pass Certification Exams

Getting ready to take the CISA, CISM, CISSP, CIA, PMP, MCSE, or other certification exams? Here’s what you need to do to pass those tests: