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Do Certs Still Matter? 🕸🕸🎃🕸🕸
Today's article will be centralized on HOW to build your personal brand! This is crucial for today's job market since it's more along the lines of "It's not WHAT you know, but WHO you know".
🎃 Article 🎃 Glossary 🎃 Catalog 🎃 Home 🎃 Search Mode🎃 Article Glossary
🕸 Synopsis 🕸
Today’s article is going to tackle an important matter, one that is often debated about much which is slowly changing in terms of priority over time from a realistic standpoint for the overall Cyber Security job market…. Certifications Vs Experience, specifically, which of the two matter more, and which one will land you a job in Cyber. We go back and forth on the matter, but we never really sit down and “think” about the benefits and drawbacks of both, and whether not one or the other is better… OR both! Over the course of this article I’m going to highlight the benefits and drawbacks of both, comparing the two in order to ultimately decide which one is better. Be mindful, this is just my overall opinion and you are free to disagree with me if you like. Also be mindful, a lot of what I’m going to talk about will also carry over to other areas of tech besides Cyber, so do pay close attention to all of what I’m about to say. Also, like always, pay CLOSE attention to the way I “word” the overall article. You’ll get tripped up a lot if you don’t pay attention to the way I compare the two. In other words, PUT YOUR THINKING CAP ON!
🕸 Article Topics 🕸
I'll be discussing the following topics in order: 🎃 What Are Certifications? 🎃 The Benefits of Certs? 🎃 The Drawbacks Of Certs? 🎃 Which Certs to Go For? 🎃 The Benefits Of Experience 🎃 The Drawbacks of ONLY Having Experience? 🎃 Which is Better? You can click on any of the topics to simply check that one out if it interests you! NOTE: Articles are read from LEFT to RIGHT via 2 columns! Read the first column all the way down and then move to the next one!
🕸 Key Links 🕸
Here's a quick run down on all the main links that are in the article in case you want to check them out first. 🎃 LinkedIn Version
🎃 Do Certs Still Matter?
What Are Certifications? 🕸🕸🎃🕸🕸
Certifications are the highlights of your knowledge on a particular domain within Cyber Security and contain the fundamental knowledge for you to pursue that particular area. They PROVE whether you have the sufficient knowledge to begin applying it.
For example, the CySA+ cert is the fundamental one for if you are pursuing a field in Cyber Security as a Cyber Security Analyst. It contains all the basic and advanced terminology you’ll see in the domain that you need to be familiar with, as well as knowledge on all the tools and frameworks you need to know before you get hands-on experience with it. Passing the exam indicates you are READY to apply to it!
The Benefits of Certs? 🕸🕸🎃🕸🕸
Certifications serve you well in the long run, much like degrees (I know they’re hot garbage now haha), allowing you to meet the essential prerequisites for employers to even look at your resume when submitting a job application. Without them, you’ll be 10000 percent rejected on the fly as most AI/ATS systems filter you out simply for not having it.
You also become a PRIORITY over those that ONLY have experience, a common thing I’ve experienced myself when applying for jobs in Cyber, jobs I’m PLENTY qualified to do, which is the main reason I’m now going for them as well as my degree through WGU’s bachelors degree program.
The Drawbacks Of Certs? 🕸🕸🎃🕸🕸
They don’t necessarily mean you have the equivalent hands on experience nor do you understand the material on a fundamental level that is often required. They’re typically just multiple choice questions you answer looks at Comptia.
They also cost A LOT OF MONEY and lock people that aren’t financially able to go for them like myself and many others. This is a HUGE problem, which is the main reason why they’re slowly chiseling out as a major priority for job requirements.
Which Certs to Go For? 🕸🕸🎃🕸🕸
Go for certifications that are PERMANENT! Comptia ones are trash and require you to annually renew them each year, PER cert. Certs from HackTheBox - Dr. AITH as well as OffSec. Once you pass them you’ll never have to retake or re-certify them. That, and they are HIGH In demand and will actually land you a job cert alone!
The Benefits Of Experience 🕸🕸🎃🕸🕸
The overall benefits of experience, is that well… it’s EXPERIENCE, meaning you’ve not only learned the material, such as myself and many other self-taught folks, but have APPLIED the material, which is a HUGE problem with most cert holders today.
Experience can come in a variety of types: on the job experience, personal experience like projects and home labs, etc etc. How you get it, and the QUALITY of it, depend on how you go about it.
The Drawbacks of ONLY Having Experience? 🕸🕸🎃🕸🕸
As I’ve stated before, even if you have experience, if you don’t meet the degree/cert requirement, you’ll often be less favorable to employers. In their eyes, CERTS matter more and define your overall skill level… OR DO THEY!?
Which is Better? 🕸🕸🎃🕸🕸
Overall Experience is better and will CURB stomp ANYONE that is simply only holding a cert.
I’ve talked about this before, but I’ve done a few CTF competitions with cert holders, and yeah… ahem…. A LOT OF THEM WERE STRAIGHT TRASH! Couldn’t run a few basic lines of Linux commands even if you had it set out in front of them. It’s a HUGE problem, and is the MAIN reason why the hiring process for Cyber is now favoring ACTUAL SKILLS vs having certs/degrees, the degree requirement soon to be a thing of the past.
Overall, to maximize your effectiveness in the overall job market, try pursuing both, as it’s what I and a lot of other experienced professionals are already doing, which is now possible and affordable due to WGU’s Cyber Security degree program.
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- The Hacker Who Laughs 🕸🕸🎃🕸🕸
