WGU BS - IT Security Job Prospects?

clintonia

I'm thinking of enrolling in WGU's BS: IT Security program to help reach a goal of mine to get a degree as well as beef up my resume. I tried searching for a few threads, but didn't quite find one about job hunting experience after getting the degree.

Has anyone found that job hunting goes easier or you get more callbacks after getting the degree? Also on the flipside, has any (potential) employer said anything negative about having a degree from WGU ?

PCTechLinc

I didn't get my BS from WGU in Security, but in Network Administration. I found that no one around my area really knew anything about WGU, so I had to explain what I learned throughout the different courses. I even have 4 Associate's Degrees from Heald College, and they were shut down by the government last April. No one really cares that I went (and taught) there.

In your case, if you take the BS:IT Security from them, you're looking at the following certs included in the coursework:

Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA®)
Cisco Certified Network Associate Security (CCNA® Security)
CompTIA A+
CompTIA Network+
CompTIA Security+
CompTIA Project+
CompTIA Linux+

The only area that might hinder your job search is work experience. Degrees and certs will only take you so far, but if you show them that you are more than what is on paper, you'll do fine.

clintonia

PCTechLinc wrote: »

I didn't get my BS from WGU in Security, but in Network Administration. I found that no one around my area really knew anything about WGU, so I had to explain what I learned throughout the different courses. I even have 4 Associate's Degrees from Heald College, and they were shut down by the government last April. No one really cares that I went (and taught) there.

In your case, if you take the BS:IT Security from them, you're looking at the following certs included in the coursework:

Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA®)
Cisco Certified Network Associate Security (CCNA® Security)
CompTIA A+
CompTIA Network+
CompTIA Security+
CompTIA Project+
CompTIA Linux+

The only area that might hinder your job search is work experience. Degrees and certs will only take you so far, but if you show them that you are more than what is on paper, you'll do fine.

Sounds good. I'm actually planning on getting all of these certs plus the CCNA before enrolling in WGU. I have a lot of self-taught and job experience with Linux, hardware, networking, and security so my experience and skills would back up those certifications as well. I've been flipping through the books for all of those certs and it doesn't look like it will take me too long to finish them with probably the CCNA certs taking the longest time to complete.

Danielm7

Unless those certs are paid for by your job your best bet is to study for as many as you can before you start WGU then let them foot the bill for your test fees. Even if you pass every one on your first shot you're looking at over 1K in test fees alone easily.

To answer your question, I did my BS in security at WGU and work in security now. The certs help, having the degree filled a checkbox but I don't think anyone was beating down my door because the degree concentration was specifically in security. What helped me break in was the fact that I had a lot of years of general IT and sysadmin work beforehand. I could confidently talk about networks, servers, workstations, etc, how I've secured them before, how I have worked with firewalls, trained employees, etc. In many IT jobs you end up doing different security tasks, you just have to portray them in the right way on your resume so it highlights the fact that you know what you are doing. I dug into a lot of tools on my own and I really enjoy it, they could tell when they were interviewing me. Also, being a people person helps. They said they interviewed some people who were "wanna be Neos" (from the Matrix), everyone found them really awkward to be around.

I've never had an employer say anything bad about WGU, one of the managers at my current company went there before I was hired so there was some familiarity. Most of the people I work with have 15+ years in IT, almost none of them have a degree, this will matter more or less in certain workplaces. Just list it as your education, don't get hung up trying to explain the whole competency model as I've seen some people try to do before, no point.

clintonia

Danielm7 wrote: »

Unless those certs are paid for by your job your best bet is to study for as many as you can before you start WGU then let them foot the bill for your test fees. Even if you pass every one on your first shot you're looking at over 1K in test fees alone easily.

To answer your question, I did my BS in security at WGU and work in security now. The certs help, having the degree filled a checkbox but I don't think anyone was beating down my door because the degree concentration was specifically in security. What helped me break in was the fact that I had a lot of years of general IT and sysadmin work beforehand. I could confidently talk about networks, servers, workstations, etc, how I've secured them before, how I have worked with firewalls, trained employees, etc. In many IT jobs you end up doing different security tasks, you just have to portray them in the right way on your resume so it highlights the fact that you know what you are doing. I dug into a lot of tools on my own and I really enjoy it, they could tell when they were interviewing me. Also, being a people person helps. They said they interviewed some people who were "wanna be Neos" (from the Matrix), everyone found them really awkward to be around.

I've never had an employer say anything bad about WGU, one of the managers at my current company went there before I was hired so there was some familiarity. Most of the people I work with have 15+ years in IT, almost none of them have a degree, this will matter more or less in certain workplaces. Just list it as your education, don't get hung up trying to explain the whole competency model as I've seen some people try to do before, no point.

Awesome, this was just the information I was looking for. The more I think about it, the more I think I'll take your approach. Instead of taking the certs before I get in, I'll just have them pay for the vouchers since its part of tuition anyway. I was just mostly concerned with finishing as quickly as possible so I wanted to get the certs before I got in. I imagine if I study for all the certs beforehand, I can still fly through those classes by just getting the vouchers and passing the exams.