Great point Greg. People ask me why I focus on Sec+, CySA+, and CASP+. Why don't I pursue Network+ and Project+ since I worked in those areas in the past. I started curating my certifications back in 2020. Making sure that I can maintain the ones that are important to me and that I enjoy teaching.
I've always been a fan of Network+ before Security+, as I believe there's just so much Security knowledge that's gleaned from having good understanding of how a computer network is supposed to function.
As for Project+ - well, my idiot self went to school to learn PM since I didn't know it at all and I wanted to be conversant with Project Managers as an IT practitioner. Instead, someone said, "hey, you have PM in your background" and moved me into a project management role. I knew I didn't want to be a project manager when I went, but I guess I got sucked into that maelstrom.
My professor of PM, Dr. Don Schley and I chatted over the holidays. He tells me about how so many things now are moving towards PM - things one would never realize. For example, in Medical, a Care PM uses Project Management theory to manage a holistic approach to care. Never occurred to me that would actually work, but sure-as-sugar, it makes crazy sense.
But PM is where more jobs are actually at. The trend I see is that organizations don't just want technical know-it-alls - they want people with a technical background who can steer production work. And that's the key. No one really cares that I am a CASP+ or whatever. What they care about is if I can keep our little school out of hot water with regulators by doing things that drive us to compliance - a thankless job to be sure, because no one cares about getting it right. They care about not getting it wrong.
I'm still one of these suckers that wants as many certs as I can get - perhaps it's comes from psychological need for validation that more certs means more respect...or some craziness like that. There's probably a psych paper in there somewhere - maybe the grounds for a doctoral thesis if I can convince anyone to fund a doctoral program.
Anyway... sorry if I sound a bit cynical - it's Monday.
/r
