EH-Net

Which do you guys prefer and why? I have searched around and the general consensus seems to be that the GSEC is more for the 'techie' while the CISSP is geared more towards managers.

The CISSP seems to be more popular however but the GSEC seems to be right up there. What do you guys recommend?

GSEC is a very technical, a deep dive into the general topics, and entry level GIAC certification.  The CISSP is a broad, mile wide and an inch deep, management type certification.  There is also no prereqs for GSEC, and a ton for CISSP.

It hasn't stopped me from attaining CISSP and working towards my GSEC. :)

If you had to do it again, would you do the GSEC before the CISSP?

This is a common misconception about the CISSP; it is not meant to be a technical certification.

To quote directly from ISC2s CISCCP material:
"The CISSP credential is ideal for mid- and senior-level managers who are working toward or have already attained positions as CISOs, CSOs or Senior Security Engineers."

Likewise for the GSEC:
"The GIAC Security Essentials Certification (GSEC) was created to provide assurance that a certified individual holds the appropriate level of knowledge and skill necessary for anyone with hands on technical responsibilities in the key or essential areas of information security."

They're not intended to be certs on the same material, or to certify the same qualifications.

I would have probably prefered to do my GSEC before CISSP, but it all comes out in the wash.  The main reason I've been looking into the GSEC is because it is a stepping stone to the GSE.

If i had it over, I would have loved to have taken the GSEC training first. As the GSEC course is a broad base of topics, it covers a number of the 10 CISSP domains in a hands on way. 

This, for me, avoids some of the dryness and theoretical nature of the CISSP training.

I took CISSP before GSEC. I still haven't done GSEC, and probably won't get the opportunity for at least a year. The reason (misguided as it was) was that i was thinking I could use the study time for the GSEC towards the CPE credits needed to maintain the CISSP. (since I wanted both anyway) The reason I say it was somewhat misguided is that yes, that is certainly worth some CPE credits, but what I had not known is that I would not have any trouble whatsoever coming up with enough credits anyway. CPEs, I was told over and over again, were a pian in the butt and hard to come by with current budget constraints. That is pure BS. I have had my CISSP since June 2009, and now, not even a year later I've already got more than my 3 year renewal's worth of CPEs. I don't bother to record everything that might count as CPEs.

Take the one that interests you more first. That said, I learned a LOT preparing for the CISSP and I am very glad I did it.

I took GSEC and working on taking CISSP. GSEC covers many of the domains the CISSP covers in greater technical details. I loved it.