Cybersecurity Certifications and Portfolio: Evidence Beyond Badges

Subtitle: Projects prove value. Badges only promise.

• Left column - The cert, read honestly:
• One vendor's exam contract
• Met at one point in time
• Silent on judgment under fire
• Year bands: guidance, not gates
• Security+ optional; OSCP no guarantee

• Right column - What a portfolio shows:
• Scoped labs with writeups
• Detection rules with tests
• Forensic timelines, threat models
• Code, policy, trade-offs in writing

• The proof loop - five beats in order:
• Build it
• Attack or test it
• Observe what broke
• Repair and retest
• Explain it in writing

• The two-removal test:
• Delete cert names: still inferable?
• Delete artifacts, keep only badges
• What is lost = each signal's worth
• Run both removals on your own work