How to Unlock AKYLADE Cert Value on Your Resume

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.

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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:

They unlock resume bullets that get recognized and teach you new skills to apply in your current role, opening up new opportunities to add value. That’s been my experience in bringing the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) back to my day job, or starting to make videos for Security Awareness training after taking the GRC Masterclass, as one example.

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

Hiring managers in the AKYLADE Advisory Council identified CSF training as a key gap in the certification landscape. While 22-46 year old certifications like Security+, CISSP, and CISA are valuable, they don't dive deep enough into the CSF to prepare you to add value from day one. 

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

“I try to keep my training affordable and on the AKYLADE side one of the things that really annoys me with the industry is how prices have been going up up up up up over the last few years and we're trying to keep those prices down so that price is not a barrier to entry.

One example cert from when I first started teaching was around $175 at retail. Today it’s $600 which is just an insane amount of of lift and you can't blame all that on inflation.”

Jason Dion, Co-Founder & CPO, AKYLADE

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