Introduction
If you spend any time reading about breaking into cybersecurity, you’ve likely heard the question: “Are certifications even worth it anymore?” It’s a fair question and a confusing one, especially for those trying to break into the field. You will hear a spectrum of answers, ranging from certifications being essential to them being a waste of time and money. The reality is more nuanced.
Certifications aren’t a substitute for experience, but they are often key to getting the opportunity to prove you can do the job.
Let’s unpack this in a way that’s practical and useful whether you’re:
- Trying to break into cybersecurity
- Transitioning from another field
- Or looking to level up your career
What Certifications Actually Signal
At their core, cybersecurity certifications do four important things:
- They validate knowledge in a defined domain. Certifications demonstrate that you understand specific concepts, frameworks, and practices. They don’t prove mastery, but they do prove exposure and competence.
- They signal your ability to learn and apply new material. Passing a certification exam requires discipline, structure, and follow-through. That matters more than people think.
- They differentiate you in a crowded market. When hiring managers are reviewing dozens to hundreds of candidates, certifications can serve as a quick filtering mechanism.
- They communicate sustained intent and professional identity. Certifications tell the market and hiring managers: “This is the space I’m choosing to operate in.”
In other words, certifications are not just about what you know. They’re about what you’re signaling to future employers or clients.
Who Determines the Value of Certifications?
A common critique is that certifications primarily exist to generate revenue. They create self-sustaining ecosystems of training, testing, and renewal fees.
There’s some truth to that. But here’s the more important question: Who ultimately determines the value of a certification?
Not the organization issuing it. The market does. In hiring, requirements are value signals. When employers ask for certifications, they are telling you what they trust and are willing to pay for.
If employers didn’t value certifications, they wouldn’t:
- List them as required or preferred qualifications
- Tie them to job roles
- Use them as screening criteria
In fact, empirical analysis of cybersecurity job postings has shown that employers frequently include certifications as part of their hiring criteria, reinforcing their role as a standardized signal of candidate readiness and capability (Ramezan, 2023).
So while certification bodies may create the product, employers determine whether that product has value.
And right now, the market is still signaling that it does. This brings us to one of the most common points in this debate.
Experience is King. But How Do You Prove It?
You’ll often hear, “Experience matters more than certifications.”
Let’s confront this directly. That’s absolutely true. But it’s also an incomplete analysis.
The real question is, how do you prove your experience especially early in your career or during a career transition?
Today’s hiring process is increasingly mediated by:
- Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) leveraging,
- Automated resume screening, and
- AI-assisted filtering
Before a human ever sees your resume, you often must pass what I call the “HR firewall.”
If your experience is not clearly articulated or does not match expected keywords, you may never get the chance to explain it, even if you have the experience.
This is where certifications play a critical role. They act as structured, recognizable proof that:
- Aligns with how systems filter candidates
- Maps to standardized job requirements
- Provides a shorthand for your capabilities
A Knight's Tale: A Quick Analogy
There’s a scene in A Knight’s Tale where William wants to compete in tournaments but can’t. Not because he lacks the skill, but because he lacks the proof of a noble birth. Without that proof, he isn’t even allowed to enter the arena.
Only after obtaining a patent of nobility (thanks to Chaucer) does he gain access [due to a forged credential] and from there, his actual ability carries him forward.
Certifications can function in a similar way. They’re not the skill itself but they can be the credential that gets you into the arena.
Access vs. Acceleration
This is where certifications become especially important depending on where you are in your career.
For entry-level and career changers certifications create access and can open doors.
If you don’t yet have:
- Direct cybersecurity experience
- A strong professional network
- A portfolio of relevant work
Certifications can help you:
- Get past initial screening barriers
- Demonstrate commitment to the field
- Establish baseline credibility
Certifications do not guarantee you a job, but they can open doors that would otherwise remain closed.
For mid-career professionals certifications enable acceleration
If you already have experience, certifications serve a different purpose.
They can:
- Help you pivot into new domains (e.g., application security, cloud, and governance)
- Strengthen your positioning for promotion
- Support salary negotiation by aligning with market expectations
In this context, certifications are less about getting in and more about moving up or across strategically.
When Certifications Are Not Optional
There are also environments and industries where this isn’t even a debate.
Certain industries, such as defense, federal contracting, and regulated sectors require certifications as a condition of employment.
For example:
- U.S. Department of Defense workforce requirements (DoD 8570/8140) mandate specific certifications for certain roles
- Federal contracts may require certified personnel to meet compliance standards
- Organizations operating under frameworks like NIST often align roles with credential expectations
In these cases, certifications aren’t about signaling. They’re about eligibility.
A lack of certification may mean:
- No interview
- No offer
- No ability to work on that contract
These requirements tend to limit the candidate pool and, in some cases, increase compensation.
What About Influencers Saying Certifications Don't Matter?
You’ll see experienced professionals say things like:
- “I don’t renew my certifications anymore.”
- “Certifications don’t matter at my level.”
- “They’re not worth the cost to maintain.”
And for those individuals, that may be true. But here’s the key question, does their situation apply to you? It’s easy to dismiss certifications once you’ve already used them to build your career.
Someone with 10–20 years of experience, a strong professional network, and a proven track record is operating under a completely different set of conditions than someone new to the market or without those advantages. This is why it’s important to understand advice in context. Advice that works at the top of the field [seniority] doesn’t always translate to those trying to break into it [entry-level].
For many professionals, the absence of a certification is still a barrier to opportunity.
Are Certifications Worth It?
Yes, with a caveat. Not all certifications are equal or relevant to every role you may apply for. Additionally, having more certifications does not automatically mean more opportunity. Certifications are valuable when they are aligned and needed for the role that you are applying for. Like any investment, certifications should be evaluated based on return, whether this is increased access to interviews, higher compensation, or expanded career opportunities. You obtain value when choosing a certification that aligns with your target role, reflects current market demand, and either complements or helps to compensate for your experience. If a certification does not move you closer to your target role, it’s no longer an investment. It’s an expense.
Practical Takeaways
If you’re thinking about certifications, here’s my suggestion on how to approach them strategically:
- Start with the role, not the certification. Look at job postings for roles you want. What certifications are repeatedly mentioned?
- Use certifications to fill gaps. If you lack experience in a domain, certifications can help bridge that gap.
- Think in terms of sequencing. What certification makes sense next given where you are today? What certifications are sought after at the next tier?
- Don’t rely solely on certifications alone. Pair them with hands-on labs, projects, and practical applications you can highlight on GitHub or in a portfolio.
Final Thought: Tell Your Story
Certifications are not a substitute for experience. They don’t replace real-world capability. But they can amplify your visibility, credibility, and access in a way that experience alone sometimes cannot, especially in today’s hiring environment. Certifications don’t replace your story, but they can make sure your story gets heard. This means that your certifications and experiences should convey a strong and coherent story of who you are, what your capabilities are, and what you can do.
If You're Not Sure Where to Start
Choosing the right certification path for you can be overwhelming. Going down the wrong path can cost you time and money. Not committing to a path is also an opportunity cost. If you are trying to break into cybersecurity, transition to a new domain within cybersecurity, or position yourself for your next role, it pays to take a step back and determine how certifications may help you align to your long-term goals.
That’s exactly the kind of problem I help professionals solve by aligning certifications, experiences, and strategy to move from where you are to where you want to be.
Reference
Ramezan, C. A. (2023). Examining the Cyber Skills Gap: An Analysis of Cybersecurity Positions by Sub-Field. Journal of Information Systems Education, 34(1), 94-105.
