Winner, winner, chicken dinner. That’s what was on the menu for (ISC)² at this week’s SC Awards gala event held in San Francisco, where the CISSP was recognized as the industry’s Best Professional Certification Program for 2019 by SC Media, which is coincidentally celebrating its 30^th anniversary in the same year as (ISC)².

The SC Awards are recognized throughout the cybersecurity industry as the crowning achievement for IT security, and winners are run through a rigorous judging process that includes testimonials, industry assessments and additional research. The CISSP was hand-picked by a panel of judges for its advancements in cybersecurity training and certification.

As SC Magazine reported in its summary of the award winners , “CISSP-certified members earned an average annual salary of $109,000 – 36 percent more than non-members . . . [and] a recent search of “CISSP” on Monster.com turned up 9,000 job postings.”

Aside from the more general bounty of high-salary opportunities the CISSP may lead to, it’s also a mark of distinction that can help create more diversity within cybersecurity teams.

The article quoted Natalia Hanson, technical audit senior director at Nasdaq, who said her CISSP “helps me to be taken more seriously,” in often male-dominated IT organizations.

The 2019 SC Award win is the latest in a string of accolades for (ISC)²’s top certification. In addition to research that showed that it was the top-pursued certification of 2018, Upwork Skills Index also listed the CISSP as one of the top 20 hottest job “skills” in the entire U.S. labor market.

What opportunities has your CISSP provided you in your career?