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CraginS
Defender I

Listing Credentials on LinkedIn & Resumes

In a recent and very active thread over in Certifications, guarantee my life for cissp, Community members advised a novice in our field to remove the word CISSP from his LinkedIn profile, where he was actually showing completion of courses to study for the CISSP exam, but listing under the Certifications section of the profile, appearing to be claiming he held the CISSP. The advice was well placed, addressing both ethics and copyright aspects of appearing to claim CISSP without actually being certified.

 

To the original poster's credit, he understood and took the advice, changing his profile accordingly.

 

This note in the Career area is to point out broader advice on how to keep your LinkedIn profile and resumes as ethically sound and not subject to accusations of false claims.

 

Consider all forms of professional credentials commonly found on resumes: academic degrees, certifications, certificates (they are not the same), professional society memberships, awards & decorations, etc.

 

  • In every case, be sure the way you present your information does not give the impression of a claim you cannot support.
  • As in the above example, don't list a course you took such that it appears you are claiming a degree or credential you have not actually attained.  
  • Don't list courses you are planning to take but have not yet completed.
  • Don't list a degree you are currently pursuing such that it appears you are claiming (to a rapid reader) you actually have that degree. 

LinkedIn is a particular problem for current academic work and degrees. The form used for degree allows in-progress posting using the two date fields. However, using that form with simply the degree (e.g. MS, MA. PhD, etc.) makes it appear to claim the degree as completed, unless the reader carefully inspects all the details. I have observed a significant number of INFOSEC practitioners on LinkedIn who have made this error. I cannot tell if these errors were inadvertent of intentionally misleading, but in either case, they are a problem. If you want to show meaningful progress toward a degree, do so in an area other than the Degrees area. Also, list only courses successfully completed, not the complete degree plan you have in mind. I have seen that very misleading situation on LinkedIn, also. 

 

Next, never, ever, list degrees "awarded" by diploma mills or any school in the USA not accredited by one of the participating accrediting associations listed at CHEA.org. If you are not familiar with the existence of both diploma mills and their accompanying "accreditation mills" see the articles linked at this CHEA page.

 

The above advice is particularly important if you are seeking endorsement to (ISC)2 for certification after passing an exam. Most of us who are willing to endorse applicants really do review and confirm the key information on the resume we receive. A coworker in my company I did not know personally once asked me to endorse him for CISSP after passing the exam. His resume listed a degree from a school I had never hear of, one that was not listed in his official HR records. When I asked him for more information on the school he went mysteriously silent. I later confirmed the school as a clear fraudulent diploma mill. 

 

Good luck on your professional development and your job searches and career progress. Keep the ethical standards of (ISC)2 certifications in mind as you progress.

 

 

 

 

D. Cragin Shelton, DSc
Dr.Cragin@iCloud.com
My Blog
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27 Replies
jbrandt
Newcomer I

You nailed it Dr. Shelton.

j_M007
Community Champion

Thankfully, I no longer have this issue for the moment. My endorsement process concluded successfully.

jbrandt
Newcomer I

Congratulations! 

j_M007
Community Champion

Thanks! Now that basic training is over, the hard part has just begun! 😉

rslade
Influencer II

> j_M007 (Contributor I) posted a new reply in Career on 07-24-2018 12:25 PM in

> Thanks! Now that basic training is over, the hard part has just begun! 😉

Ah, Grasshopper, you approach wisdom! 🙂

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billclancy
Contributor I

Mark, I have a co-worker who was advised to remove a similar line in his resume, with a similar result of being certified shortly after complying.
As a DOD contractor I have several security certifications, but your list is quite impressive...co-workers call me "The cert wh0re", but you bring it to a whole new level. You must be a master test taker, and very dedicated to amass such a list.
Baechle
Advocate I


@Markonweb wrote:

 

Best, Mark
CISSP-ISSAP ISSEP ISSMP CAP CCSP CSSLP HCISPP SSCP CCISO CISM CRISC CISA FITSP-M FITSP-A FIP CIPP/G CIPP/US CIPM CIPT SCF CCSK ITIL-F Cloud+ Security+


How the heck do you find time to maintain all those certifications?

 

I'm drowning in CPEs and Renewal portals at about 10.  That's not even counting professional and alumni associations I have to renew.  Hell, I even accidentally let my motorcycle insurance lapse last winter.

 

Sincerely,

 

Eric B.

CISSP-ISSEP, CFE, A+ ce, Net+ ce, Sec+ ce, IT Project+, SFPC, DMC, DFE, CCI

 

Markonweb
Newcomer II

lol, well... my wife suggested I get a hobby and it was cheaper than that bright red classic vette... I had serious test anxiety that kept me from taking the CISSP exam for years. As a fed contractor, we had a recompete in 2014 that listed the CISSP as a requirement. I dove in and had no life for 2-3 months and came out of it with a pass. I was working as a self-taught security geek without a bachelors and with no certs. I was working without a net and I knew I needed to do something about it. After the CISSP, I just focused on things I wanted to learn and started from the edge of the puzzle working my way inward (while Father Time was pulling away puzzle pieces as those domains changed). Like others, recruiters started sending me linkedin invites after those letters appeared on my profile. A bachelors is on my radar but I'm having too much fun with the certification path right now... CEH and GCIH are the two exams I'm studying for now. SANS instructor extraordinaire John Strand framed the SEC 504 class as a 'purple' course. The hands-on red team/blue team mix is something I'm really enjoying right now. (the yummy chewy center of the puzzle).

Best, Mark
CISSP-ISSAP ISSEP ISSMP CAP CCSP CSSLP HCISPP SSCP CCISO CISM CRISC CISA FITSP-M FITSP-A FIP CIPP/G CIPP/US CIPM CIPT SCF CCSK ITIL-F Cloud+ Security+ AWS-SAA
Markonweb
Newcomer II

I hear you... it starts to get expensive and busy to keep up. I usually have one event each year that takes care of a chunk of the CPE requirements and is general enough/broad enough to put in the GroupA category for CPEs. The data entry is a pain but I print out the registration and agenda for each event and throw it in a binder until I'm ready to spend an hour on the CPE portals.

Congrats on the ISSEP Eric... the body of knowledge for that exam is quite the stack of paper.and the exam was a bear.


Best, Mark
CISSP-ISSAP ISSEP ISSMP CAP CCSP CSSLP HCISPP SSCP CCISO CISM CRISC CISA FITSP-M FITSP-A FIP CIPP/G CIPP/US CIPM CIPT SCF CCSK ITIL-F Cloud+ Security+ AWS-SAA
billclancy
Contributor I

I returned from an overseas assignment in 2008, and had some time before my next gig began. I figured I'd do the ISSEP. Got the book, literally printed out all the NIST documents. OMG the stack was 3-4 feet high in black binders, I read daily for a few months, but never felt confident enough to test...Kudos to you guys for wading through all that and passing the test!