Career Advice

[Confused25]

Hello,

I recently obtained a master's degree in Occupational Safety and Health with a focus in Safety Management. My bachelor's degree was in Occupational Safety and Health.

I have been searching for a position for several months and have not found one just yet. I have had several interviews, but nothing has panned out. I have recently decided to expand my field a little just to see if there may be anything else out there. I have a second interview for an IT position tomorrow. The IT field interests me and I could potentially see a career in it.

The interviewer told me that degrees are great, but what really sells you are certifications. If I decide to go into the field, I will of course begin work on certifications right away. I am concerned of promotion in the IT field due to my degrees being in another area, even if I obtained several certifications. My wife and I are wanting to start a family within the next few years, buy a house, etc. and for this I will require greater compensation of course. I was wondering if these certifications would be enough to obtain higher positions or if I'm sunk without a degree in the field. Any thoughts on the matter would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Confused25

 

[strollin]

I can only speak from my experience. I have a BS degree in Management. I went into management and decided I did not want to work the number of hours required since I had a young family at the time. I switched from a Sr Manager position to software developer (got accepted into a programmer training program thru my employer). That was in 1986.

I have worked over 30 years in software development and never had any certifications until about a year ago when I became a certified RPA (Robotic Process Automation) Professional.

I realize that software development is not the career you are talking about. However, I want to assure you that I encounter many people in the IT field that have degrees that aren't in the IT field.

My youngest son works in IT and recently got his RPA Professional certification. He has a BA in English.

His older brother works in IT and has no degree or certifications.

Degrees and certifications are great and may be necessary in order to get your foot in the door but what really counts is your experience.