Got transfer degree, next step?

[DolphinPilot]

Cliffs:
-Spent early part of career doing manual labor type of ****, made decent money, live comfortably.
-Last few years got serious, start a career path towards Quality Engineering
-Former co-worker (who is a QE) finds out I didn't have a degree, tells me to get a degree -- ANY degree. Everything you need for QE will come from field experience. Degrees are mostly good just for resumes.
-I had some credits from a nearby college, decided to finish my AA transfer degree (Gen. Studies. yep that's right..)
-As soon as I come within inches of finishing, I get laid off. Still going to finish the degree for obvious reasons.

So now I don't know wtf to do. I'm at a place where I'm not sure if I want to pursue QE anymore, and maybe this transfer degree will give me a headstart in a different direction. Anyone here have any insight? What are my options for maybe like a bachelors in business, for example? I mean what would that look like, what possible career paths, how long would it take, is it worth it, etc? For what it's worth I got a nice severance package after getting laid off so I have some time to mull it over, maybe go back to school again and finish something else.

[DolphinPilot]

well damn son, I guess there is no hope for me

[jn677]

well damn son, I guess there is no hope for me

This sub forum is not that active outside of cryptocurrency threads lol.

Bachelor of business is difficult. In general when doing a degree it's better to be specialized where possible. You may be able to use a bachelor of business to work towards an accounting or other finance professional qualification/designation most will require a bachelor's degree just make sure you take the required accounting/finance classes but even here it's better to get a degree in accounting or finance than just business.

I would really recommend pursuing something more specific if you can.

[ralphlaurenbrah]

I would suggest a career in cardiac sonography or dental hygiene.

https://explorehealthcareers.org/fie...h-professions/


A business degree is no guarantee of anything. It’s so general and useless imo. You need technical skills if you want to make $ in this world where everything is hyper competitive. It’s a global economy now and you’re competing with Asians and Indians and Africans willing to work for 1/20th your salary so the best way to beat that is pick a technical career that interests you.

[DolphinPilot]

Yeah I was considering going for something specific. However I still only have an associates, so I was wondering if there was some easy path to SOME sort of bachelors so I could check that box off. A lot of places apparently won't even consider you if you don't have a bachelor's, minimum. I was initially told I could get an associates, then a load of extra certifications and the like, to make up for it. Anyone have any insight on this? Or do places really just "No bachelors, disregard" when they review applicants?

I may just stick with Quality Control at the end of it all, as I already have a few years of experience in that realm. I could buckle down and pick something else entirely, devote myself to a complete career change, but at 33 I question if it's going to be worthwhile over sticking to what I already have some experience in.

I don't suppose any miscers here work in Quality Engineering, Quality Management, etc?

[jn677]

Yeah I was considering going for something specific. However I still only have an associates, so I was wondering if there was some easy path to SOME sort of bachelors so I could check that box off. A lot of places apparently won't even consider you if you don't have a bachelor's, minimum. I was initially told I could get an associates, then a load of extra certifications and the like, to make up for it. Anyone have any insight on this? Or do places really just "No bachelors, disregard" when they review applicants?

I may just stick with Quality Control at the end of it all, as I already have a few years of experience in that realm. I could buckle down and pick something else entirely, devote myself to a complete career change, but at 33 I question if it's going to be worthwhile over sticking to what I already have some experience in.

I don't suppose any miscers here work in Quality Engineering, Quality Management, etc?

Sorry I don't work in that field but just generally speaking I can try and offers some advice.

There are very few places that will give any value to a non relevant bachelor degree. There are a couple places that might still require a bachelors and don't care what it is, but those are few and far between these days.

I did an MBA from a top school and we had people in the class who had very generic undergrad degrees and even with the MBA from good school they had a really hard time. I know for me personally people were more interested in my technical skills. Some jobs I have gotten since then that were more strategic I got because of my MBA but there is no way I would have got them without my technical undergrad as well. I now have actually gone further and gotten a technical masters as well. It's getting so competitive out there.

I won't go too into the details but I am specializing in some data related technical field and I have a technical undergrad, technical masters, MBA, I think I have 7-8 different certificates (5-6 Microsoft certs + Qlik Sense + Tableau), 10+ years in my field and I still lose out on jobs all the time.

[elterrible987]

industry, niche and susceptibility to offshoring/globalization are probably more important than your specific degree.

since you are so close, i would def finish the AA degree too.

having the full 4 year degree would never hurt, but i cant say if its worth it for your industry or not. The larger the companies you are applying to, the more likely they are to require one and more likely they are using HR which are usually brain dead karens, to screen your resume before the hiring manager ever sees it. If you are applying to smaller places or through your network then it would matter less.

If a 4 year degree is doable online, then maybe its worth it to do it long term, even if its only say 4 classes a year and takes forever, while you are working full time.

[DolphinPilot]

I would suggest a career in cardiac sonography or dental hygiene.

https://explorehealthcareers.org/fie...h-professions/


A business degree is no guarantee of anything. It’s so general and useless imo. You need technical skills if you want to make $ in this world where everything is hyper competitive. It’s a global economy now and you’re competing with Asians and Indians and Africans willing to work for 1/20th your salary so the best way to beat that is pick a technical career that interests you.

Just considering all options, but what are some other good options for medical field type of work? Something that is a bit lucrative, doesn't need to be 10k/day obviously, but doable and there is a healthy need for it out there. Just considering moving to something medical as an option at this point.