My background:
12+ years of Software Engineer (Principal, Senior, Lead, whatever you want to call a role which is IC level of doing almost anything by himself) on different levels, simple coding up to leading teams, different areas. I'm looking for a way to step up my career and decided to acquire several certificates to bake up my education and experience (In Germany, EU scope mostly). I'm aiming into Architect, Tech Co-founder, Higher Technical roles (not product, not BA, but like cross team technical/business expertise). Therefore, my first two choices fell onto ISO 27001 Lead Implementer and TOGAF EA (1 + 2) certificates. TOGAF I had for a quite a time on my horizon to acquire, wile ISO 27001 seems like a good starting point for general security start. Later I'm planning to expand a bit on more concrete frameworks and approaches.
Now:
I'm wrapping up udemy course on Lead Implementer rn and all the specs, and looking up for proper certification. Initially I was aiming to Lead Implementer role and thought it is one time thing and basically forever, but then found (yeah, bad initial research from me) out that it requires annual fees and CPE credits. Annual fees are not that big deal, but CPE I'm not fully sure. So I've looked that I can get practitioner certificate and reduced fees and no need for CPE. My questions with regards to all that would be:
- What is a "best" (meaning highest in certification hierarchy) possible certificate I can get excluding LI? Just implementer? Can I upgrade it later without reexamination by providing required 400+ hours of CPE later?
- Does it really make sense for me to get LI rn considering my goals? I'm also not sure if LI would be that much beneficial for me rn to invest ~700 Euro in the certification and all the hustle with hours.
- If I get a practitioner certificate, can I upgrade it later up to LI? Might be that I'll be pivoting to full security roles. I'm just laying the foundation. I'm assuming I'll have to basically do everything as if I didn't have certificate anyway, right?
- Is practitioner certificate have a huge gap in perceived value than an LI? Asking because I have vague feeling about it. I'm assuming LI is more suitable if I plan to do more consulting work, and if I'm more of a full-time employee then practitioner might be better cost/value ratio then.