A common question from people considering the AKYLADE Certified Cyber Resilience Fundamentals (CCRF) exam is how it can help their resume when it’s brand new and not yet prevalent on job postings.

Here are my thoughts on how to leverage this certification effectively.

Table of Contents

• CCRF doesn’t replace established certs, it differe …

• While CCRF isn’t well known, CSF certainly is, and …

• Hiring Managers Prefer Certified Candidates

• Use these Resume Bullet Points

  • A/CCRF

  • A/CCRP

• Other Considerations:

  • Value and Affordability

  • All Certs Start Somewhere: Look at Pentest+ and OS …

• Bottom Line

CCRF doesn’t replace established certs, it differentiates you with an edge that a large pool of e.g. Sec+ applicants doesn’t have

One of the main concerns with new certifications is employer recognition. If a cert isn't on the job description, hiring managers might not know what it is, or worse, your resume might not even make it past the applicant tracking system (ATS). It's frustrating for applicants, but understandable given the high volume of applications employers receive.

That said, less well-known certifications can still be valuable. I noted in the GRC Certification Roadmap that:

While CCRF isn’t well known, CSF certainly is, and catches hiring manager interest

In Show Hiring Managers You Know Enough to be a Part of the Team I noted that:

The NIST Cybersecurity Franmework (CSF) was first released in 2014 in response to a presidential executive order. Since then, it has been rapidly adopted and become hugely influential on the world stage.

It's not hard to see why. In the complex and challenging field of cyber risk management, CSF provides a clear roadmap between a comprehensive baseline of your organization's current state and an appropriate, tailored, desired state that will work best for it to become cyber resilient. It's a guidebook written by the experts for all shapes and sizes of organizations: big, small, public, private, government, commercial—it doesn't matter. It works for all of them to become cyber resilient, which then helps protect our economy and national security.

Hiring Managers Prefer Certified Candidates

They don’t want to have to take you from zero to hero. They want people who can add value from day one.

Use these Resume Bullet Points

A/CCRF

• Comprehensive knowledge of NIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0 demonstrated in passing the AKYLADE Certified Cyber Resilience Fundamentals exam

• Trained to effectively plan, manage, and optimize the NIST Cybersecurity Framework in an organization while ensuring its successful implementation and ongoing improvement

This cert also lays a foundation for the next step: Certified Cyber Resilience Practitioner:

A/CCRP

Demonstrated practical knowledge of the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) and how to plan, implement, manage, and optimize the material aspects of the framework for use within your own organization using the Cyber Risk Management Action Plan (CR-MAP) process:

• Coordinating with management for organizational buy-in and establishing risk profiles for organizations

• Discover top organizational cybersecurity risks using rigorous prioritization methods

• Create a personalized cybersecurity risk management strategy tailored to an organization's unique requirements

• Conduct maintenance and updates to the organization's cybersecurity risk posture and perform continuous improvement

Other Considerations:

Value and Affordability

All Certs Start Somewhere: Look at Pentest+ and OSCP vs CEH in Job Postings

• CompTIA is a world leader in certs and came out with Pentest+ in 2018

• Today Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) is still more prominent on resumes, even though hiring managers arguably prefer Pentest+ and Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP)

• HR continues to copy/paste from prior job postings and it takes time for new certs to get established

Bottom Line

While the CCRF certification might not yet be prevalent on job postings, it can differentiate you from other candidates by:

1. Showing that you have specialized knowledge in the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, which is highly regarded by hiring managers

2. Providing you with opportunities to apply new CSF knowledge to help organizations within your reach become cyber resilient