Is the CISSP Certification Worth it?

CISSP is considered as Internationally acknowledged benchmark for the information security professional. From the past two decades, it has gone through the test of times and proved its mettle. Stands for Certified Information Systems Security Professional and is expected to take a great deal of time and efforts from the aspirants by studying CBK - Common Body of Knowledge and completing other training to gain sufficient professional expertise and finally pass the exam. Some people say it is the most difficult test that one could ever pass.Now the question arises is, whether CISSP is worth all that effort, time and energy?

Let us find out at length:

• You become more employable: In this era of frequent security attacks and hacking attacks, hiring a candidate who is CISSP certified is sufficient that you have not only bookish knowledge but enough hands-on experience and industry exposure to be given generalist information security work. CISSP is a required or highly recommended credentials for hiring managers and employers looking for professionals for all kinds of IT security positions.
• You attain higher salary than peers: Needless to say that those candidates who are CISSP certified always get better rewards and opportunities and have higher average salaries than others in the same domain. The often get better raises by being promoted within their company or by getting another job.
• You get to enhance your Infosec skills & productivity: The study and labor that you need to give in in the process of attaining the credentials render you with immense knowledge to optimize your work and attain immense knowledge of your domain. It optimizes the work and the company may not have to hire additional resources for some functions.
• Your role and CISSP credential is a must for any security domain in a company: In these time of volatile job-roles, one thing is for sure, you are not going jobless being a CISSP. Especially, those who have a smaller generic IT role in smaller companies, they have all the work their platter, and hence they become more and more pertinent for their companies and departments. Additionally, with increasing cloud technology implementation and BYOD culture in modern workplaces, information security skills are becoming mandatory for any IT department.
• You stay at the top of your game: To maintain your CISSP, you must attain/ earn CPE credits each year. Hence you need to attend training courses and conferences, go for webinars and read media and so forth to be updated with your domain knowledge. It keeps you updated with the general market trends and you keep on looking forward to learning new things and be abreast with changing trends.
• You gain immense credibility as an InfoSec expert: By the virtue of carrying a recognized credential CISSP, you get the reputation of a Master's Degree in your domain. CISSP offer the value that your skills reflect, and people understand your worth.

All the mentioned point clearly shows that CISSP is one of the most recognized credentials that gives the optimum recognition to you as a security expert. CISSP hence may be one of the most difficult exams to crack but with the right training program and hands-on exposure, you attain the skills that industry needs and hence it is worth every effort you make along the way. All the best!