I posted pretty recently, but on an unrelated topic, I'd like to discuss a possible career change and if anyone in the field could offer some pointers. I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English, and ended up working as a paralegal. I started at making $29k, and five years later at almost 29, I've over doubled my salary, but I think I'm near where it tops out for my level of experience. I constantly get contacted on LinkedIn for interviews, which result in a salary range around $50k. I currently make $55k, but with not much overtime and bonuses, I've made $63k this year. I likely won't make it to a base salary of $60k for another five years, and that just doesn't align with my goals. So, I'm trying to come up with other routes.
My old roommate in college was a creative advertising major, and self-taught herself most of the "design" aspects. She's now a UI Designer making $110k per year, and working from home. I recently noticed another college friend who has hopped around with certifications since college (health and wellness coaching), and most recently, she took ONE class through DesignLab and had some basic web design skills, and already landed a job as a UX Designer. I'm not very close with this girl so I haven't asked much or have any knowledge of how she went about her career change, but we're Facebook friends, so I happened to notice her new job and clicked around her LinkedIn profile to see her experience.
I've been looking into the Designlab courses and they're fairly affordable and part-time. Here's a link:
http://trydesignlab.com/courses/I was hoping that someone who might be in this field already could tell me if this is a waste of time or a good approach for getting into the field. I have some basic HTML skills, but that's about it. Also, if any of you have suggestions for other courses / certifications to help me break into this field, I'd greatly appreciate it!