The cybersecurity skills gap and talent shortage continue to widen year over year as the result of a proverbial square peg and round hole situation. The peg: prospective cybersecurity practitioners are looking to break into an industry in dire need of skilled and talented individuals. The hole: hiring managers and their human resources counterparts have a near impossible task of determining which applicants vying for open positions are adequately prepared to fill cybersecurity roles.
Over the last twenty to thirty years, professional certifications exploded in an effort to whittle down the edges on those square pegs. The total number of professional certifications across specialties, experience levels, and different certification bodies now numbers over 100. Here are a few guiding thoughts on how both cybersecurity hopefuls and current employers should be thinking about professional certifications.
Why does everybody disagree on certifications?
In cybersecurity, professional certifications can be particularly polarizing. Some practitioners invest heavily in earning certifications, only hire individuals with certifications, and believe in the intrinsic value of those…
