WGU- Do Employers Respect IT Degrees From Here?

digitalcreepshow

Hi all,

I posted a recent post asking a semi- related question (but more geared toward my specific life situation). I am about to narrow down a few school choices for advancing my IT career. One of the choices (reccomended by tons of people here it seems) is WGU. The only thing that worries me about this program is it's reputation. I have no real knowledge of how employers view someone from WGU when applying for jobs. If it helps, I am looking at specifically the Cybersecurity program. I currently work as an IT Analyst, so I am not a noob and will have a few years of job experience under my belt once I finish the degree and certs. Has anyone had issues with employers? Do you know of any horror stories of employers laughing at your "degree"? Any feedback is greatly appreciated. WGU seems legit and it would work the best for me, but I also don't want to waste time on a degree no one respects.

TechGromit

digitalcreepshow wrote: »

I have no real knowledge of how employers view someone from WGU when applying for jobs.

So long as it's an accredited college, I don't think they will care. Most employers are not looking for Ivy league college graduates for IT, it's management and business where this become much more important. I wouldn't advertise it's an online college, I doubt most employers would even ask and if they do, just tell them where the university is located, you don't have to get into a long explanation it was online classes.

Danielm7

Yep, you already have experience, they'll probably go "BS degree, check" and move on.

stryder144

Not to mention, the employer will know that you didn't live in Salt Lake City while you went for your degree (they will look at the location of your job(s) and the school and see a difference), so they will know that it was online. If they are curious, if, then they might decide to look a little further into it and notice that it is not-for-profit and regionally accredited. Those two points tend to be the most important, overall.

Iristheangel

Haven't had a problem with it. It's both regionally and nationally accredited so no issues yet. If you do a Linkedin search for WGU grads, you'll see a large number of large companies willing to employ them.

LordQarlyn

stryder144 wrote: »

Not to mention, the employer will know that you didn't live in Salt Lake City while you went for your degree (they will look at the location of your job(s) and the school and see a difference), so they will know that it was online. If they are curious, if, then they might decide to look a little further into it and notice that it is not-for-profit and regionally accredited. Those two points tend to be the most important, overall.

This is where I lucked out; I went to University of Phoenix, during the whole time I happened to live and work in Phoenix

On a more serious note, certainly for positions in the USA and the several Anglophone nations, WGU should not only be acceptable but even looked on good and that you took it online should not make a difference.

In other parts of the world, they have not gotten swing of the online thing, (such as the GCC where I am working towards getting an expat job there), it may not be seen as good as a "brick and mortar" university. Unless you are planning to work in one of those countries, I would feel confident going to WGU (indeed if I could do it over I would go there myself). I wouldn't broadcast it was online, neither would I conceal it though. As a hiring manager myself, I actually slightly favor online degrees because it shows at a minimum the applicant is fully comfortable in the online collaborative environment. Believe it or not, many as "young" as me do have problems getting into that.

paul78

I'm also an advocate for WGU. For tech, I think it's a great program which is also affordable. I don't think it's good for everyone but for people that are self-motivated, I bet it can be a good experience.

One of these days, if I ever decide to finish my degree, it will probably be from WGU. I have a friend who is a C-level exec at a public company and I recently noticed that he finished his degree at WGU.