Having spent considerable time in edtech as one of the early movers, I empathize with what you've mentioned and agree to some extent that most of them have indeed become sales machines.
But with that, yes it's pertinent to your research well and not fall for over the moon promises. More than often, those are the reasons for a learner to drop out or worse not landing a transition.
A couple of things you should do prior to picking a program. One, make sure that it's something that you can be self motivated about. No amount of program managers or customer success teams can do for you what you can do for yourself if you're motivated.
Second, understand what's your learning moat. What I mean by that is what makes it easier for you to understand and learn better. It could be that you need constant mentoring to get the contextual aspect better. If not, do you prefer self paced learning and only periodic sessions for validating your concepts.
Seems trivial, but becomes important if you're picking between say UpGrad or Great Learning or any other ed-tech program.
The other is, what's the fundamental outcome you're looking at? Leave the false promises of XY LPA aside. Is it transition into a new role at a new company or sector ? Or is it growing at your org?
The why? Because then you need to know what works best for them. Do they prefer institutional degree or a good proof of work portfolio to make that happen. For eg. Adobe considers only recognised programs from universities in India and Abroad. While
Unicorns like razorpay, Unacademy etc are okay with more PoW based approach. This in turn also dictates your budget for the program.
Post that, i suggest talking to learners to understand the support ecosystem. Most organisations have a fine print that says Job Guarantee with an *that it's only job interview opportunity guarantee. So understand how well you are being supported.
Apart from that, my only suggestion is to gauge your aptitude for the role at hand.
