As a security expert, you want to make sure you get an approved certificate, which will help you gain more in the field of information security. The certified information system security expert (CISSP) certification has become the gold standard here, but in terms of the average annual salary, what does this mean? While you can rest assured that you’ll get more of the CISSP’s revenue compared to those who are not certified, how much revenue do you expect to get here?
The problem is that, as CISSP certification does not apply to a single career path, the key issue is complicated. You can find many different positions in a number of industries that need or want to gain CISSP authentication. Another consideration is that the salary scale of these positions may be entirely different.
In addition to the huge differences in actual work itself, you must also consider the cost of living in various areas. For example, if all the other conditions are the same, CISSP in New York will earn more than CISSP in Atlanta, simply because your money goes farther in the South than on Big Apple. So, although technically, your income in New York City will be higher, even if you reduce your wages in pure terms, you are likely to enjoy a better standard of living in Atlanta.
You then have fewer tangible elements that affect your income, such as years of experience and other skills that are not directly related to CISSP or information technology (such as)). Such as HIPAA, HITECH or PCI-DSS)
Although there are many differences in the discussion of salary data for certificates covering many different industries and positions, we can collect some insights.
CISSP Salary Statistics
Indeed, the best way to discuss CISSP certification pay is not in detail, but in statistics. This will give you a comprehensive understanding of expected earnings and expected earnings in the United States.
What Is the CISSP Average Salary?
In the United States, the average wage for CISSP is between $68594 and $128338 for men and between $59810 and $119553 for women, according to Payscale.com. Glassdoor has similar numbers. It is true that Indeed.com provides CISSP holders with an average of $99,000 a year, but a quick look at their breakdown of CISSP certified salaries for different positions shows that the range of compensation from one position to another is similar.
However, the number of Global Knowledge in 2016 is quite different. Their CISSP certified salary is$121,923(compared to Indeed.com$99,000). Interestingly, CISSP certification was not among the top 15 in 2014; Although it meets most ranking criteria, it does not meet the sampling size criteria for the survey to be included.
Obviously, this is a very wide range and may not offer too much help, so let’s further break down.
In order for you to better understand the distribution of these numbers in various positions, we will look at some of the Payscale.com national salary data that require CISSP certification. They are listed as follows:
Information Security Analyst: $60,501 to $116,527
Information Security Manager: $81,930 to $140,311
Security Engineer: $70,103 to $127,095
IT Security Architect: $90,834 to $153,280
Chief Information Security Officer: $106,727 to $203,345
Just to throw some more information into the mix, let’s consider some salary information from Indeed.com by position:
Security Program Manager: $97,000
IT Security Manager: $108,000
Information Security Engineer: $91,000
IT Security Architect: $99,000
Security Architect: $107,000
Glassdoor can provide a little more information about the average annual salary by position:
Information Security Engineer (at Lockheed Martin): $96,895
Senior Information Security Engineer (at Booz Allen Hamilton): $114,528
Information Security Engineer (at Wells Fargo): $113,261
Information Security Analyst (at Tata Consultancy Services): $66,196
Information Security Specialist II (at Lowe’s): $77,041
Considering Geographic Area
As mentioned earlier, there are many factors that affect your income as a CISSP. Geography is one of the most important. Not only things like living costs in a particular area can be included in your compensation, but there are other things like competition, industry concentration, and so on.
According to the Payscale.com survey, the best areas in which CISSP certified holders seek employment (in terms of available work and employer concentration) are as follows:
Atlanta, with an average earning potential of $64,515 to $121,509
Washington DC, with an average earning potential of $73,455 to $141,015
Dallas, Texas, with an average earning potential of $69,111 to $131,372
New York City, with an average earning potential of $70,976 to $150,657
Chicago, with an average earning potential of $69,111 to $131,372
CISSP vs. Other Certifications vs. Non-Certified Professionals
Although CISSP has become the standard for information security professionals, there are many other options. How can CISSP certification pay be raised compared with others?
For this information, we will transfer to Certification Magazine and its salary survey. Note that CISSP is actually fourth on the list (with an average annual salary of $109650 in 2014), and according to the magazine, the top three beat CISSP in terms of revenue potential:
CISM (Certified Information Systems Manager): $115,080 (note that this certification is only offered by ISACA, not by (ISC)2)
CRISC (Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control): $111,740 (only available from ISACA)
CISA (Certified Information Systems Auditor): $110,190 (only available from ISACA)
What about those certifications that fall below the fourth spot (CISSP)? From five on down, you have the following:
CAP (Certified Authorization Professional): $106,900 (from (ISC)2)
GCIH (GIAC Certified Incident Handler): $100,590 (from GIAC)
PMI project management professional: $100,040
Open Group certified architect: $97,980 (from Open Group)
TOGAF (The Open Group Architecture Framework): $96,910 (from Open Group)
CCDA (Cisco Certified Design Associate): $96,850 (Cisco only)
CEH (Certified Ethical Hacker): $96,290 (from EC-Council)
It should be noted that the above list differs greatly from the list provided by Global Knowledge, which is also fourth in the CISSP. First, GK lists AWS-certified solution architects with an annual revenue of$125,871. The second name is CRISC, with an annual salary of$122,954. The third was CISM with a bonus of$122,291. In fourth, they listed the PMI project, management professionals. Below, the list is as follows:
CISA
CCIE
CCNA
CCDP
CEH
Six Sigma (green belt)
CCP-V
CCNP
As you can see, although CISSP certification may not guarantee you the highest income, there are many other aspects to ensure that your income is reduced. In addition, CISSP is probably the most frequently cited "required" certification for information security positions in almost every industry, and the demand is growing.
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