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Comment by jorejudos | Hacker News Reader

Is the certificate that you get for completing the course an actual acknowledged certificate in the infosec industry?

No, it's not -- this is a brand new course. However, I personally will put my weight behind anyone who completes this course successfully, as it will put them in a prime position for many positions; I have no doubt that they will be perfect for those jobs.

I'm a software security hiring manager and will confirm that going through a course like this would get our attention.

What about the SANS SEC542 + GWAPT certification? It looks like Cody's course covers a couple areas that don't fall under the SANS one, but the high-level overview appears to be pretty similar.

Or, would you be willing to speak more generally about certifications, and which, if any actually DO get attention from hiring managers in the security field?

We pay absolutely zero attention to certifications. I literally don't know what's in the SANS program.

Not taking Cody's classes wouldn't harm you here, or at any other high-end firm that I'm aware of. But actually taking it would signal a particular interest and engagement with appsec, which is something I would pay attention to.

If there is some other forcing function you have to get you to actually practice software security and find vulnerabilities, that too would be valuable.

I'm pretty familiar with the attitude among hiring managers that certifications generally don't signal anything useful; my boss and I also hold that position (I hold an MCTS that I was forced to get so my employer could get a better partnership status with Microsoft). So I'm curious why holding Cody's certificate might actually mean something where a more established cert would not.

Cody isn't offering a certification. But I know Cody and I know people that take his class are going to be working directly with him.

Just to follow up on this, I'm a little confused by your response. You say you would pay attention to a course "like this" but in other replies say that you pay no attention to certificated courses that are... like this.

So do courses like this catch your attention, or are you exclusively interested in the takers of this particular course that happens to be offered by someone you personally know? I'd appreciate the clarification.

Okay cool. What would it mean for someone to fail the course and would there be any way to retake the course (possibly for a reduced price)?

Failing the course would entail not doing scoring well on exams (read: not finding good bugs). You can retake the course in following runs, but I don't have a discount planned at this point. If you keep up with the course work and ask questions if/when you get into the weeds, everyone should be able to keep up with this, even as intensive as it is.

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