Google Cybersecurity Certifications Won’t Land You a Job
But some certs might
Google, like many other certification vendors, has sold you a lie.
Google’s Cybersecurity Certificate landing page boasts that it will “prepare you for a career as a cybersecurity analyst”. It includes figures such as “$100,000+ median entry-level salary” and inspires you with all sorts of different jobs you can get in cybersecurity after this cert.
It’s a lie. And they’re not the first to do it.
Other tech giants like Microsoft have their own cybersecurity certifications and the headlines would have you believe these companies are battling the cybersecurity worker shortage head-on. In reality, they’re doing much.
The First Problem
The first glaring problem is the elephant in the room:
Cybersecurity is not an entry-level career. It is an advanced subset of information technology and one which requires many years in the former to excel in the latter.
Certifications that boast the idea of being qualified for positions in cybersecurity are predatory and, to be frank, just cruel.
There are some exceptions to this rule and truly entry-level positions do exist, but they are scarce and highly competitive.
The Second Problem
The certs hold no weight. They mean virtually nothing to hiring managers.
Why? Two reasons:
- They’re too new
- They’re too fundamental
Most of these certifications have popped up in the last few years. This makes it incredibly difficult for them to carry any weight as only a few people know exactly what is taught. It takes a decent amount of time for certifications to gain trust and authority in this space.
Even good certs, like those from Heath Adams’ TCM Academy suffer from this problem. They’re great certs but few hiring managers know of them.
Google’s Cybersecurity Certificate is also too fundamental. It teaches wide but shallow and introduces you to topics rather than teaching you them. By the end of the certification you’re basically qualified to to give the definitions of 10 different areas in infosec but not a lot more.
The Third Problem
Google says it will take you 6 months at 10 hours a week to finish this certification.
If this taught you more than the fundamentals? Great, go for it.
But 6 months for a meaningless certification? Absolutely not.
6 months is a long time. It’s time you could dedicate instead to studying for certs that do hold value, such as CompTIA Sec+ or Network+. You could easily achieve either of those certifications in the same amount of time and actually have something worthwhile after. Hiring managers know these certs and seek candidates with them.
The Bottom Line
Unfortunately, despite what Google wants you to believe, you will not land an entry-level cybersecurity job after achieving this certification alone.
There are much more worthwhile alternatives to pursue such as CompTIA Sec+ or TCM certs.
