SSCP combining with associate of (ISC2)

[Mitchell]

Dear reader,

Right now I am an associate of (ISC2). In a few months, I got enough work experience to start the endorsed process. If all things go well I get endorsed and become SSCP title holder.

I want  to take upon the CISSP exam after I become SSCP title holder, however I don't have enough work experience for CISSP. Is it possible to be a SSCP, and again become an associate of (ISC2) for the CISSP track?

Thanks in advance.

[Early_Adopter]

No.

You’d no longer be an associate of ISC2, but a member, so while you’d be able to take the CISSP Exam in advance, and fulfil the (much longer/different) experience requirements later, but you’d not be re-designated as an ‘Associate’.

I’d wait until you are a year off having the experience required, then study and take the exam as I’d not see much value(other than a sense of satisfaction in passing) otherwise.

[Mitchell]

I thought if you don't start the endorsement proces within a year of passing the exam, you have to retake the exam?

[AlecTrevelyan]

Hi @Mitchell,

I'm not sure that @Early_Adopter is correct?!

As I understand it, you can hold multiple Associate designations, one for each exam you pass but don't yet have the experience to go through the endorsement process:

https://www.isc2.org/Certifications/Associate

"Through the Associate of (ISC)² program, you can take any of our certification exams without the required work experience. When you pass, you become an Associate of (ISC)² as you work to gain the necessary experience to achieve full certification."

Therefore, you could get endorsed as an SSCP, and then become an Associate again after passing the CISSP exam. Or you could even take the CISSP exam and hold the Associate designation for both the SSCP and CISSP at the same time if you wanted to.

If the above is correct I think there is some merit in being an Associate over waiting to take the CISSP exam - the video in the link above explains why.

BTW - you get 9 months to complete the endorsement process after taking the CISSP exam, unless you go down the Associate route where you get 6 years to gain the experience and complete the endorsement process.

@amandavanceISC2 Hi Amanda - could you clarify Mitchell's initial query please?

[Early_Adopter]

@AlecTrevelyan 

My my understanding is that once your have certified you wouldn’t be an accosiate of ISC2, you’d be a member and the accosiate designation would not apply(it would be redundant).

You could still take any exam but if you didn’t have the experience to apply for the certification, but once certified you would  no longer be an associate, but would be a member with a certification and no longer an asscociate. Multiple associate designations would seem( to me, at least) comical.

 I could of course be wrong, however @CraginS provides a very good explanation, that would see any certification retire the designation for a candidate/member:

https://community.isc2.org/t5/Career/Understanding-Associate-of-ISC-2-Status/td-p/12539

[amandavanceISC2]

@AlecTrevelyan That is correct, a candidate can hold the Associate of (ISC)² status for any (ISC)² certification exam that they have passed. Specific to this case, he can even take the CISSP exam now and be an Associate of (ISC)² towards SSCP and also an Associate of (ISC)² towards CISSP and then submit endorsement for SSCP. 

Best Regards,

Amanda Vance

[Early_Adopter]

@amandavanceISC2 Are you saying that a certified member of ISC2 would put the ‘Associate of ISC2” designation on their CV, alongside their CISSP or SSCP? If they had passed two exams but lacked experience would they then put the designation down twice?

D we have signed off for something like:

CISSP

Associate of ISC2;

Associate of ISC2.

It’s a useful stepladder, but if the designation is availible as more than internal tracking my tiny mind is literally blown...

[amandavanceISC2]

@Early_Adopter Technically, yes. Any candidate who becomes an Associate of (ISC)² can only put that on their CV. If an employer were to ask what that meant, they can explain that they've passed CISSP or SSCP or both and they hold the status until they have the required work experience to hold the full certifications. 

Best Regards,

Amanda Vance

[Early_Adopter]

@amandavanceISC2 not really a direct answer to my question, but let’s follow that rabbit down the tunnel, as we’re talking about combinations here.

Would a certified member of ISC2 with CISSP add the ‘Associate of ISC2’ designation to their CV as a well as being a ‘Member of ISC2’?

[AlecTrevelyan]

Issues of logo usage aside, the Associate designation, as shown in the video from the link I previously posted, is a mechanism for allowing people to earn experience for which they may not have been afforded the opportunity if they hadn't shown capability in a subject area by passing an exam - this should (and does) hold true for members and non-members alike.

This does go against my own view that certifications should be about validating knowledge and experience (i.e. you shouldn't even take an exam until you have both), but I can understand the need for this in a market crying out for new talent, or, in the absence of new talent, cross skilled existing talent!