How hard is it to pass the CIPP cert exam? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Mid-level probably looking to go in-house from a non-privacy transactional practice, thinking getting CIPP certified will probably help me land a FAANG-ish gig.

Went to download the main book and it's 400 pages long. How hard is it gonna be to study for and pass this thing while pretty busy doing biglaw? How much time time are we talking?

[Best]

It's easy to pass for most lawyers. I didn't study at all besides glancing through the topics the day before and skimming ones I wasn't familiar with. One of my friends read the book the weekend before and passed.

With that said, I'd assume it's irrelevant for faang-ish. It only impresses people who don't know what it is.

[Anonymous User]

With that said, I'd assume it's irrelevant for faang-ish. It only impresses people who don't know what it is.

Hmm I don’t know about that. I’m an in-house privacy lawyer who has never bothered to get certified (and obviously got the job without the certification), but I don’t think it’s totally irrelevant. A very high percentage of job postings for privacy either list it as a requirement or strong preference. Of course, if you have the certification but plainly don’t actually know much about privacy, that will be clear in the interview if you’re interviewing with a privacy lawyer. But I can imagine it being helpful at the margins when interviewing for a product counsel job.

[Anonymous User]

It's easy to pass for most lawyers. I didn't study at all besides glancing through the topics the day before and skimming ones I wasn't familiar with. One of my friends read the book the weekend before and passed.

OP. Cool -- was it that easy because you do actual privacy work and had a good idea of the substance before taking, or because it's pretty easy with some light prep for biglawyers who tend to be good at standardized tests? I'm thinking about doing what your friend did -- wait for a slow week then try to skim/read the book, then take a shot on the exam.

[Anonymous User]

Privacy is such a stupid area of the law (anon just to say this because I could imagine backlash, sigh)

CIPP-US is pretty darn easy for a US lawyer. I studied more than I needed to and aced it. I read the sections of the study guide for sections I wasn't familiar with (like industry-specific laws such as HIPAA or GLBA). You could probably spend two days reading the book the weekend before, but ideally you probably spend 2 weeks of decent work on it if you want to be really sure you'll pass.

I've heard CIPP-EU is a bit harder, so maybe double study time for that.

[Anonymous User]

With that said, I'd assume it's irrelevant for faang-ish. It only impresses people who don't know what it is.

Hmm I don’t know about that. I’m an in-house privacy lawyer who has never bothered to get certified (and obviously got the job without the certification), but I don’t think it’s totally irrelevant. A very high percentage of job postings for privacy either list it as a requirement or strong preference. Of course, if you have the certification but plainly don’t actually know much about privacy, that will be clear in the interview if you’re interviewing with a privacy lawyer. But I can imagine it being helpful at the margins when interviewing for a product counsel job.

OP. Yeah this is why I figure I may as well bang it out -- I've been looking at AGC/Product Counsel job postings more and a lot of the time they mention familiarity with privacy law being preferred and not infrequently CIPP specifically.

[Anonymous User]

I earned it as a 1L with something like 40 hours of study, and I'm guessing that was overkill. It's not hard.

[Itcamefromthesea]

Great thread, thanks! I was looking at this too.