In my entire career thus far, i can only recall meeting one person with an associate. It was about 6 years ago and when we got the CV, I was the only person reviewing it who knew what it was — and everyone knew CISSP, etc.
Frankly, I think there is a lot of confusion about whether it constitutes a credential or not, even on the part of some who have heard of it. As an entry level credential, or even for someone with 1-2 years of experience, it seems to lose to the marketing aspect of Security+, CEH, etc., which are ones everyone knows about and there are clear minimum expectations around them in the minds of hiring managers. They also check-box 8507.1. CISSP does get listed with “(or associate)”, but I feel like the associate designation might just highlight the lack of experience compared to a full CISSP in a way that having a similar but unrelated credential may not.
-- wdf//CISSP, CSSLP
