I’m not sure if this should be posted elsewhere and maybe this is a longshot but I would appreciate any insight.
I dropped out of high school when I was 17 and got my GED. I’m now in my mid-30s and am an individual contributing manager in the Bay Area at a known tech company in a low-tech/marketing role. Despite not having a formal education, I’ve been given opportunities in my professional life and I’d like to think I’ve risen to them, and I’m lucky that I landed in Silicon Valley. I’ve worked in my field for 7 years. Most of my colleagues are highly educated. I have a good reputation at my company and I was asked recently by the department director to apply for a small product management position. Whether or not I get the role, I feel the need to continue my education for future opportunities, and having enough experience behind me now, I would like to shoot for a degree in business or marketing.
I’ve never taken college courses but I’m adaptable and curious.
Being in my mid-30s, I’d like to get a credential now for my resume (and advance my skills in key areas to support my work), and then potentially go into an (online) undergrad program and an MBA in the future. I found the UC Berkeley Extension courses and a certificate for Project Management that looked appealing and the courses look like exactly what I am looking for.
- Does anyone have experience with this certification program at UCBX?
- Given my background above, does this sound like an advisable path? Would credits from the project management program at UCBX transfer to an MBA program down the road, even if not at Berkeley, since that seems like a pipe dream.
- For a working professional without a degree, do you see a better alternative that still supports a jump into project management now?
Having no post-secondary education experience, I find a lot of resources online telling recent grads to not waste time on a certificate and just go for an MBA, but not a ton of resources for someone like me midway through their careers. I also think the bay area is a unique employment space, even without being a programmer. For a bit more background, I am a single parent and work around 50 hours a week, so dropping everything for a traditional 4-year undergrad program isn’t an option. My commute is also 1-2 hours per day and it would be challenging to attend class at a brick and mortar school, but I might be able to swing it later for grad school since I think the in-person aspect is important.
I would very much appreciate any thoughts.