WGU reputation for somone inexperienced

Do people with little experience have a rough time finding jobs with a WGU degree? I am really considering attending but most people already have plenty of experience before attending WGU. Can anyone who was inexperienced share whether they had a tough time finding a job?

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dmoore44

I'm not a WGU grad, so I'll not be able to speak directly to your question; but for those times where I'm involved in hiring, I've never discriminated against anyone who went to WGU just because they went to WGU. I really don't think that any impediment to getting a job is going to revolve around where you got your degree - you're going to sink or swim in an interview based on your knowledge and experience.

Honestly, the better question to ask might be if the career resources offered by WGU are any good (i.e. what sorts of services are offered, who has used them, and how was the experience).

Iristheangel

I have not had any sort of hard time finding a job after graduating (pre-CCIE). I got my BS from WGU and got a network engineer job at Westfield. Finished my MSISA at WGU while at that job and ended up at Cisco right after (also, pre-CCIE). Your career probably isn't going to be soley defined by your degree by any means but it's a nice thing to have under the belt and if you're going to get that as an adult, best to avoid crippling debt whatever way you go.

mzx380

IMHO, degrees from heralded universities have less of an impact in IT than in other industries (they do help though). So long as you have a technical degree coupled with relevant work experience, it will be easier for you to find a job. If WGU is how you achieve the latter, then I say go for it.

In terms of quality, I completed my MBA there and am happy with the education I received when factoring in the investment I made.
My .02

DatabaseHead

Iristheangel wrote: »

best to avoid crippling debt whatever way you go.

Truer words have never been spoken.....

My Bachelors was paid for by my parents years ago and my masters as well..... However my wife not so much, she has 70,000 in debt and her payment is insane and it's been a nightmare for us. With 3 kids and her only working part time as a RN and myself in the BI field we struggle because of that payment.

My daughter is a freshman in high school and she is being highly encouraged to keep her grades up and enter the A+ program, where you can go to the community college for free if you maintain a few conditions. Community service, grades and attendance I believe. This will hopefully put her in a really good spot to either to go get a job (assuming she gets a degree worth something) and be debt free.

She can take the money she would be paying for student loans and begin to invest, save and accrue wealth.

@MZX I agree completely. My last job was in supply chain and they made a HUGE focus on your degree, now I am working in a BI shop, aligned with IT MUCH more and they don't even list degrees on their LinkedIn sometimes.... The culture shift between the business and IT/BI is soooooooo much different....

At the end of the day, I encourage my kids to go to the community college and gets a STEM degree and take their chances on the market. Of course encouraging internships whenever possible.

jdancer

DatabaseHead wrote: »

...My daughter is a freshman in high school and she is being highly encouraged to keep her grades up and enter the A+ program, where you can go to the community college for free if you maintain a few conditions.

Hopefully you considered dual-enrollment where high school students can enroll for free or get a discounted tuition rate while earning college credit. Also don't forgot about testing out of Gen Ed courses via CLEP/DSST/AP courses.

DatabaseHead

jdancer great point. First up sophomore year, personal finance which is offered by one of the really good state Universities.

EnderWiggin

Where you get your degree doesn't matter. It's what you get pout of your degree that's important.