Since my company has encouraged me to obtain this cert, I would like to know what the overall opinion is for this cert.  Should I expect a raise if I earn it?  Does this open doors or do people shy away from people who hold it?

I have been out of the loop a little due to school and am trying to jump back in.  Thanks all!

CISSP is on the "never go hungry cert list"  so its a benefit from that respect, lots of people make it requirement for whatever reason.

now if you company is asking you to get it, then hopefully they will be supporting you getting your CPE credits by sending you to training every year.

The CISSP is a requirement for the highest tier of Sys Admins within the DoD.  So if seeking (or wanting to keep) a job with the government, the CISSP will fulfill all of the 8570 requirements.

On that same note, I know of at least one large Contracting company who gladly pays their employees a $1,000 bonus for passing this cert.

Very valuable.

yup what pseud0 said.  i have seen people that have tons or experience not get jobs for the very reason they didnt have their CISSP and the contract or customer required it.

just study, knock it out, pay your 85 bucks a year, and then go research and learn the stuff the cert is supposed to represent :-)

My opinion is that if you meet the requirements to get the certification then just do it--no classes/bootcamps/scams.  You already have the knowledge.

Having it will open doors.

Regards,
Jonathan Lampard, CISSP (#120621)

At the very minimum anyone sitting for the CISSP should read the Shon Harris 'CISSP All In One' book . It definitely was good at filling the gaps in my security knowledge. After reading the book and doing all of the quizzes I didn't find hardly any difficulty at all with the test itself.

The CISSP means a lot more to managers than it does to technical guys from what I've seen.  Executives and managers seem to see that certification as a balance between technical skills and policy, and with it you know enough to be able to work with the more technical people as well as executives to ensure that the goals of the corporation are met and that you are balancing the companies best interest with the technical constraints that should be in place to help protect the company.  One of the big focuses on the CISSP is that the right technical answer isn't always the right answer, if something means you never get hacked but costs 1 bazillion dollars, that may not be in your best interest if you are only protecting earthworm mating parameters or something like that.  As such, in my opinion, the CISSP tests 2 things, the first being basic security knowledge in a variety of areas, and secondly it tests if you can think in both the technical and managerial worlds.  I guess that was long winded, but short answer is, if you think that you want to be a team lead, a manager, or a consultant, it can do nothing but help.

As for studying, this exam is as much about how you think as what you know, so the knowledge without the practice won't necessarily help you a lot.  I got more benefit out of http://www.cccure.org/ doing practice tests to get into the right mindset than anything else.  Anyway, just my .02