Saturday, November 12, 2016

How to Pick A Legit Professional Security Certification aka How Not To Get Scammed In Ten Easy Steps!!


One of the cornerstones of any successful career is training. It's no different in security. Whether you're at a seminar or enrolled in a course, you're doing so because you want to move forward professionally. What better way to demonstrate you're prepared for the "next step" than to take a course or two and learn a new skill? Yeah, it often sounds cooler than it is. What's even worse, in my opinion, is that for many of us the price of pursuing professional development ain't cheap.

I love the American Society for Industrial Security International (ASIS). It is awesome for all-things professional development in security. It has networking, great conferences, expos, a reference library, and its own bookstore. ASIS is also host to some of the most sought-after professional certifications around the world for security. There's one catch - it's pricey. It'll run you about $400 dollars including annual dues to pursue their Physical Security Professional (PSP) certification. It's recognized even by the United States government in the SAFE Act and also has ANSI/ISO 17024 Personnel Accreditation.

ASIS isn't the only horse in the stable offering professional certifications in security. My only problem is almost none of them require the breadth of knowledge, professional recommendations, and experience levels ASIS requires. Many are purely paper-mills.

There is a professional certification body that has a horrific reputation in our industry. I've heard from numerous of their certificate holders all that was needed for their certification was a check and they received a lapel pin, t-shirt, a CD with reference materials which were mostly outdated, and a diploma. In fact, if you go to their site and attempt to pull up their "sample" certification test, you get a 404 error code. There have been a number of articles written on the founder as well.

Getting a professional certification or even getting good training from reputable people can be difficult. My advice?
  1. Ask around on security, tactical, or law enforcement forums. There are lots of forums on the Internet that cover these schools and certifications. You're not the only person who wants to grow professionally. Be careful - look for guys who have a solid reputation in the group. My favorite sources are the folks who don't have to tell you what they do every post but you have an idea.
  2. Find a mentor to ask. Seriously, if you don't have a mentor in security, you're doing your career all-kinds of wrong. Get a mentor and ask about training and certifications.
  3. Search LinkedIn. I know. I know. LinkedIn can be seen as the worst place to network. I get that which I said "search". That's right - look at the qualifications of folks who are where you want to be professionally and see what certifications they have. See if the certification passes your "sniff test". Basically, if it seems legitimate and checks out with other reputable sources, then it might just be okay. Be careful - even "legit" folks fall for the trap of easy paper-mill certifications.
  4. Investigate who recognizes certain certifications. The easiest way to spot a fake certification is to which, if any government bodies formally recognizes them. By "formally", I mean look for statutory and regulatory citations of the certifications. If they won't recognize it on "official letterhead", then already have a good idea it may be something you don't need or want. 
  5. Check to see if a certification is needed for jobs similar to a job you're wanting but on another employer's site. It sounds shadier than it sounds. Okay, it does sound a bit shady but let me explain. We're not looking for a new job - yet. We're looking to see if other employers require a certification for that position. For example, the other day I saw a job listing for a job I would give my left arm and my dog's favorite bowl for. Yes, it was that serious. That job listing had a certification I had never heard of and certainly not one I had seen on other listings. I scour the Internet and sure enough, it's really cool and legitimate certification. Psssst. If anyone knows a guy who knows a guy who can get me to a Lenel certification, I'd greatly appreciate it.
  6. Check the price tag. I hate to tell you this but security training and certification ain't cheap. Personally, I have spent well over a few thousand dollars of my own money to get certifications and training. These certifications and training have given me a "leg up" on the competition in some ways and have afforded me new skills but they did not come cheap. Most of the legitimate stuff that is out there is expensive. If you can't get your employer to pay for it (because they're either too cheap or you're not employed), then I suggest saving up and paying later. Trust me. If it's cheap and supposed to be amazingly career-enhancing, chances are it's probably not one of those things.
  7. Read and research the testimonials. A lot of places brag about having "security directors" and "officials" but often, this is just pure fluff. Wait. I misspoke - it's just a flat-out lie. I suggest you read the testimonials. I'm not saying some certification bodies don't have management and executives getting their certifications. There are some who definitely are not honest, though. Find out more about the people who laud the body - who they are professionally, do they actually exist, and whether they have a bias. You shouldn't base your decision on testimonials but they can be a key component in the process.
  8. Check the reference materials needed for the course. I love any certification that requires industry-standard texts (ahem, ASIS....That's why I love how you certify). I also like certifications that have online instruction materials as well. Most paper-mills will furnish you with a text and have you take it open-book. Nope. Kind of a red flag for me.
  9. Avoid open-book certifications. Not all open-book certifications are bad. Most are very cool. This was my preferred method of certification in the military. That said, I'm a grown-up now and employers like something that forces you to study and come away with industry-standard competence in both skill and comprehension. In other words, an open-book exam doesn't "teach" you anything.
  10. Any respectable training or certification vets its students. Any program that doesn't ask you any questions beyond your credit card is probably not the kind of place you want a certification from. ASIS has you submit references for the PSP exam and sign a "blood oath". Just kidding, ASIS. No, just the references. I know if I was going to certify a person on a skill-set that could get people killed if not applied properly, I'd want them screened beforehand so I'd know if they could handle that responsibility. Pain in the butt for us going for the certification? No doubt. Make you feel like you belong to an elite group of professionals? No doubt.

Here are some legit certification and training bodies in security (PLEASE, NOTE THIS LIST ISN'T ALL-INCLUSIVE. I PROBABLY LEFT OUT YOUR FAVORITE TRAINING OR CERTIFICATION. BREATHE DEEP AND CHILL OUT):
There are other thoughts I'm sure on this. The simple truth is getting certified is no easy task and if it were easy, you wouldn't like it very much.

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