Are you ready to make your move into a cybersecurity career?

Candidates who have successfully made it from job applicant to interviewee to full-time cybersecurity professional will tell you that one of the biggest challenges is getting your resume to the top of stack. HR departments and external recruiters are tasked with sifting through dozens (if not hundreds) of resumes to find a handful of candidates to send to the hiring manager, and one of the BEST ways to make it through that gauntlet is by attaining cybersecurity certifications that show your future employer that you’ve invested the time and effort into learning the fundamentals of cybersecurity.

One of the most well-known, well-respected cybersecurity certifications that can help you accomplish this goal is the Systems Security Certified Practitioner (SSCP) from (ISC)2.

When you’re ready to pursue the knowledge necessary to attain your SSCP certification, these resources will help you do just that.

5 Resources to Help You Prepare for the SSCP

While Pluralsight started as an online training resource for developers, they’ve made HUGE investments in developing and delivering quality cybersecurity training materials. Their library includes a 25-hour SSCP certification preparation course, distributed across 8 modules aligned with the SSCP common body of knowledge (CBK). Pluralsight subscriptions run $29 USD per month, although they offer a FREE 10-day trial that includes up to 200 minutes of content. That’s plenty of time to determine whether or not an ongoing Pluralsight subscription makes sense for you.

Pluralsight also offers a free mobile app that allows you to access your training content on the go.

LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda) contains an extensive library of professionally produced video courses on a number of topics, all developed with the goal of helping working professionals learn new skills and expand their current knowledge. With over 11 hours of SSCP content, a one-month subscription to this training service is more than enough time to view all of their SSCP material. What’s better, a number of public library systems allow library card holders to access all of LinkedIn Learning’s content for FREE.

While online training resources are fantastic, you’ll find that reading certification books is an excellent way to solidifying your understanding of the material. Two (2) books in particular stand out for SSCP candidates: The Official (ISC)2 Guide to the SSCP CBK (4th edition) and the SSCP Systems Security Certified Practitioner All-in-One Exam Guide (2nd edition).

The guide book published by (ISC)2 contains exam prep material straight from the source, and the All-In-One series tends to take some of the more academic, technical material presented in other guide books and make it easier to access and understand. The two (2) books combined make for an incredibly powerful one-two punch.

Cybrary open sources much of their cybersecurity training material, which includes courses, practice labs, practice tests, and assessments. You can take many of Cybrary’s online courses for FREE, at your leisure, to round out your information security knowledge. When it comes to your SSCP prep, Cybrary has partnered with Transcender (Kaplan IT Training) to provide a 22-hour SSCP training course. Access to this course is availability with an Insider Pro subscription ($99 USD per month), so you may want to check out some of the less expensive options first.

(ISC)2 has published a series of six (6) SSCP courses designed to both prepare you for the exam and to give you practical, hands-on experience in applying the skills you learn to projects representing real-world challenges. You may think that a training course offered by the certification provider is the best option for learning this material, but be aware that (ISC)2 content comes at a higher price. At $1000 USD for all six (6) courses, this option is more accessible to people already working for an organization willing to invest in its employees’ professional development.

Before committing to this investment, you may want to start with (ISC)2’s free resource, The Ultimate Guide to the SSCP.

Preparing for any cybersecurity certification exam can be challenging, so don’t be afraid to ask for help. In addition to self-study, you should also reach out to your local ISSA chapter to see what resources and study groups they might have available to help.

Good luck with your studies!

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