Should You Get the New Google Cybersecurity Professional Certificate?

There are a number of household names in the cybersecurity certification space — CompTIA, TCM Security, ISACA, ISC2 — and now… Google?

The recently announced Google Cybersecurity Professional Certificate aims to equip learners with a roadmap to a career in information security, specifically as SOC analysts. Offered through the Coursera/ Google partnership under the ‘Grow With Google’ initiative, the eight course certificate pathway exposes learners to in-demand technical skills — SQL, Linux, Python, Network Security, SIEM tools, NIST CSF/RMF — while exploring resume writing, interview preparation and the job search: a suite of professional development topics that have historically been missing from entry-level courses.

The certificate program is self-paced, however, Coursera estimates that this beginner-friendly course takes about 6 months for learners who dedicate 7 hours a week — about 42 hours in total. Assignments consist of pre-recorded video lectures, quizzes, and portfolio projects to help demonstrate technical abilities to potential employers, including the 150+ organizations part of Google’s Employer Consortium.

In designing the Cybersecurity Professional Certificate, it seems Google has managed to successfully reverse engineer entry-level job requirements and map technical coursework to tasks that typically make up a security analyst’s workload. While the information contained in the course is readily available across the internet, the real value add is the weight of a credential with the Google branding and the bundling of coursework that maps to industry demand.

It will likely be some time before we see this credential appearing on job descriptions, if at all. However, for those looking to determine if a career in cybersecurity is right for them, this professional certificate provides a relatively low-cost opportunity to establish a solid foundation in information security.