Professional Development

Security experience, certifications, and notes from the path so far.

Resume

Summary

Cybersecurity professional with security operations experience since 2018 across healthcare and MSSP environments. Experienced in threat management, incident response, account compromise investigations, malware forensics, zero-day response, third-party breach analysis, detection tuning, and threat hunting.

My current focus is balancing hands-on technical execution with governance, repeatable process, audit readiness, and business-aligned risk decisions.

Incident response Threat hunting Detection tuning Security governance

Credly Badges and Exam Notes

Difficulty and ROI ratings are based on my own exam experience, preparation path, and what I personally got back from the investment. Someone in a different role or career stage may get a very different return.

ISC2

Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)

Issued Nov 13, 2024. Expires Nov 30, 2027.

My take: CISSP was a goal from day one in InfoSec. Its reputation is daunting, but the exam itself was not as tough as I expected. A domain-focused video course was extremely helpful for me, especially Thor Pedersen's material. My best advice is to zoom out and answer from a manager or executive perspective instead of staying locked into an analyst mindset.

Difficulty: 6/10 | Personal ROI: 10/10

View Credly badge
ISACA

Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)

Issued Feb 6, 2025. Expires Feb 2028.

My take: I took CISM immediately after CISSP because I expected meaningful domain overlap. In my experience, it was significantly harder. It leaned much more heavily into governance and risk, and it felt less forgiving than CISSP.

Difficulty: 8/10 | Personal ROI: 6/10

View Credly badge
CompTIA

CompTIA SecurityX ce Certification

Issued Jul 8, 2024. Expires Jul 8, 2027.

My take: SecurityX, formerly CASP+, was the end of the line for my CompTIA path and the last stepping stone from A+ toward CISSP. It was more focused on technology, standards, architecture, and engineering than CISSP or CISM. You still need judgment, but you stay more grounded in technical best practices.

Difficulty: 7/10 | Personal ROI: 4/10

View Credly badge
ISC2

Certified in Cybersecurity (CC)

Issued Feb 1, 2024. Expires Feb 28, 2027.

My take: I took CC mostly because it was free and gave me a low-risk look at ISC2 exams after only having experience with CompTIA. That experiment was useful: ISC2 did not let me go back to prior questions, so once I answered something it was locked in. The exam itself was very basic, around Security+ level or slightly easier. The downside is paying annual maintenance fees for a cert that few employers seem to ask about.

Difficulty: 3/10 | Personal ROI: 2/10

View Credly badge
Coursera

Google Cybersecurity Professional Certificate V2

Issued Sep 1, 2023. Does not expire on Credly.

My take: I took this Coursera program for the discounted Security+ voucher. Since I already had about five years in InfoSec, the material was extremely simple for me. For someone coming into the field cold, though, it is a strong introduction to foundational concepts. If you are already moderately seasoned, you probably will not get much from it.

Difficulty: 1/10 | Personal ROI: 6/10 for beginners, 2/10 for experienced practitioners

View Credly badge
CompTIA

CompTIA A+ ce Certification

Issued Jun 7, 2023. Expires Dec 19, 2029.

My take: A+ started my certification journey. I already had nearly five years of experience before taking it, but it was still arguably one of the harder exams I have taken because the scope is so broad. Even knowledgeable, seasoned professionals can get tripped up by how much ground it covers. Professor Messer was excellent for this one.

Difficulty: 6/10 | Personal ROI: 3/10

View Credly badge
CompTIA

CompTIA Network+ ce Certification

Issued Aug 28, 2023. Expires Dec 19, 2029.

My take: I studied for Network+ longer than any other CompTIA exam. You need a good grasp of network and routing protocols, cabling standards, and subnetting. It was not overly difficult in the end, but it is another mile-wide, inch-deep exam. Professor Messer was my recommendation here as well.

Difficulty: 5/10 | Personal ROI: 3/10

View Credly badge
CompTIA

CompTIA Security+ ce Certification

Issued Sep 25, 2023. Expires Dec 19, 2029.

My take: Security+ is the gold standard entry-level security cert. It opens doors for people trying to move into security from other technical or tech-adjacent roles. Know your common ports, secure versus insecure protocols, basic definitions, the CIA triad, and the general InfoSec loop around incident response, policy, and risk. Professor Messer is again a strong resource.

Difficulty: 5/10 | Personal ROI: 7/10

View Credly badge
CompTIA

CompTIA Cloud+ ce Certification

Issued Feb 24, 2024. Expires Feb 24, 2027.

My take: I took Cloud+ as part of a cheap beta opportunity and otherwise probably would not have pursued it. The exam was very easy and did not go deep. A foundational understanding of cloud technology was enough to pass in my experience.

Difficulty: 2/10 | Personal ROI: 2/10

View Credly badge
CompTIA

CompTIA CySA+ ce Certification

Issued Apr 19, 2024. Expires Jul 8, 2027.

My take: CySA+ has been my favorite cert so far and was extremely fun to study for. It gave a more in-depth look at incident response, risk management, and vulnerability assessment than CC or Security+. It also felt more aligned with the day-to-day work of someone in InfoSec than many other certs.

Difficulty: 4/10 | Personal ROI: 5/10

View Credly badge
CompTIA

CompTIA PenTest+ ce Certification

Issued Dec 19, 2023. Expires Dec 19, 2029.

My take: I worked on PenTest+ so I could take over some red team duties at my job at the time. In practice, it felt more like a vocabulary-heavy exam than a deep technical assessment. The ROI was low for me.

Difficulty: 3/10 | Personal ROI: 2/10

View Credly badge