My career in the Clinicical research/Pharmaceutical industry appears to be coming to an end after 15 years, as my job is being terminated and while I could move on to another company, I just don’t have the enthusiasm for it that I used to. It’s palpable to me, and will probably come through when I interview.
I’ve looked at GIS with interest for 10 or so years, but could never fit any courses into my schedule. Now it looks like I’ll have quite a bit of time on my hands. Part of my separation package is up to $5000 for education. I’d like to put that towards a GIS program but I’m not sure how to go about it.
I went to the ESRI website and there are quite a few certificate programs out there some of which look more comprehensive than others. A county college (Sullivan County) up where my cabin is has a program (I think it’s in it’s infancy). Also one of the NY City Colleges (Hunter) has a certificate program, which requires a prerequisite, and the prerequisite require a prerequisite, etc. so it could be up to a year before I enter the actual program. University College at University of Denver has a certificate program that looks solid. It’s offered both on-campus and online. I’m curious about how the online program works since there’s so much lab work. Also in my area is Rutgers, which has a strong geography department and continuing education program, and there are several community colleges in NJ that have certificate programs.
It seems that a certificate program is a viable way to get into this field, but there are so many. Are there programs where I’ll just be wasting my money, or is there some kind of industry standard that all programs are held to so I can at least come out of a certificate program with a good shot at finding a job?
Are there certain things in certificate programs that I need to look out for? The quicker I can do it, the better.
If you work in GIS, how did you get into it?
Thanks.