Becoming an ISC2 Member after CISSP Certification

olabisiawoyele — Mon, 08 Dec 2025 10:06:29 GMT

Hi All, I took the CISSP Exam just under 2 weeks ago and passed and I received endorsement from one of the two members of my team. I immediately applied for full membership but it was rejected. I have been working with/within IT Security and Cyber teams since September 2022 and I took the exams at the end of November 2025, presumably 5 years after. Each job role has worked in at least 3 of the 8 domains, sometimes 5 - as BAU. My only guess is that there were approximately 3 months in that period when I was changing jobs and maybe a month in between jobs and thus I may not have had 5 consecutive years? What do I do? Do I wait a few more months and re-apply? or do I apply to be an Associate instead? My current role as a Senior Security Specialist within a Cyber Team has been since November 2023.

Re: Becoming an ISC2 Member after CISSP Certification

DJExamTeam — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 20:21:31 GMT

Thank you for contacting ISC2 Community Board.

Congratulations on passing the CISSP exam!

Application Timeline

All candidates who pass an ISC2 credential examination must complete the certification application process within nine months of their exam date. Your Certification Application can begin as soon as your examination is scheduled. However, certification applications cannot be submitted until notification of successfully passing an exam is received. Early applications will remain in draft mode and can be submitted once you have you receive your passing email.

Experience & Endorsement

If you have passed the Certified in Cybersecurity (CC) exam there is no work experience requirement, so your application will contain questions and agreements regarding your adherence to the ISC2 Code of Ethics and privacy policy.

For all other certifications, you will be required to provide an endorser – another ISC2 certified professional in good standing – who can attest to your experience. Your endorser will attest that your assertions regarding professional experience are true to the best of their knowledge, and that you are in good standing within the cybersecurity industry. Application requires the endorser’s ISC2 Member ID (certification number) and surname. If you do not know another ISC2 certified professional, you can opt for ISC2 to endorse you. Please note, proof of employment is required for ISC2 endorsement.

The application will prompt you to share relevant work experience (requirements vary by certification) and can also provide an experience waiver based on certifications held or higher education degrees completed. Earning a post-secondary degree (bachelors or masters) in computer science, information technology (IT) or related fields may satisfy up to one year of the required experience. Alternatively, a credential from the ISC2 approved list may satisfy up to one year of required experience. Only one year of experience requirements may be waived by either education or certification.