College is a wonderful time in a young person’s life, but sometimes a student does not know what the future has in store for their career. Thomas Scott Adams went to school knowing what he wanted to do, but after several years, he discovered that he wasn’t in the career where he was meant to be. “I started my career in finance/accounting with a B.A. in Economics from Eastern Washington University. I was more interested in the continuous improvement projects I volunteered to work on during my time at King County, which introduced me to project management (PM).” Thomas said.

With PM being such a versatile career, Thomas has the opportunity to change his path to a career that was better suited for his talent and skills. After searching for schools, Thomas found CityU. He discovered that the Project Management Graduate Certificate would be the best option to help him take the next step in his career. “I originally found CityU and wanted to attend because of the master’s program in project management but I didn’t have enough time and decided to do the certificate instead. I was hired at Tableau Software and finished my certificate one week after the first week on the job.” Thomas said.

By working hard and using his education, Thomas became a valuable asset to Tableau Software and was able to use his education to travel the world. Thomas said “The CMO noticed that she didn’t know all of the projects and money spending happening in the North America marketing department. Since I was becoming the expert on this new tool Workfront, we implemented it for the U.S., and it was so successful I ended up going to Japan, England, Singapore, China, and Australia to implement the tool there too.” After traveling, word got out about Thomas’s success and other big-name businesses became interested in Thomas as well. “Starbucks told me they were hiring for their digital marketing and creative studio team and I was able to dive in and help them streamline processes and even create processes they didn’t have. From there I decided to do contract work to jump up the ladder.” Thomas said. Once working freelance, Thomas had the opportunity to work with a variety of companies in different industries. “I worked with companies around the world, all while using the PM information I got from CityU. I was working with big brands such as HPE, XBOX, I was also flown to help Fiat Chrysler Automotive in Turin, Italy for two months, as well as flown to Estee Lauder Company in New York City. All of it has to do with my PM cert.” Thomas said.

Thomas has achieved so much since he finished his graduate certificate, and his career advanced in more ways than he ever thought possible. “When I was at King County, I was looking for opportunities that aligned to my interest and skills but now, I have recruiters reaching out to me. My CityU education made it better.” Thomas said.

If you are looking into the PM certificate, Thomas has a piece of advice about the program, “The curriculum is built for real-world scenarios, working or studying in teams becomes relevant as soon as you graduate and can be applied to your experience. Keep collaborating and moving forward – there’s a great feeling complete projects with a fun team and it prepares you for how the real world is.”

When looking towards the future, Thomas is leaning towards the more in-demand field of creative project management. “I would like to have the same impact in creativity that I did in the marketing technology PM world. There are a lot of opportunities for creative PM’s and create new solutions, especially during COVID-19. I’m happy when helping others achieve their dreams – CityU helps make those dreams come true because I have my education.”

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Learn more about CityU’s Project Management Graduate Certificate or call 888.422.2898 to speak with an advisor today.