could you find a job after WGU

phaneuf1

everything is in the title.

qwertyiop

it depends on everyone, I believe its all in how you market yourself. Fortunately for me I was recently hired as a IT Manager and my degree had a huge part in that

W Stewart

I would imagine most people in WGU are already in the IT field. You have to have either experience certifications or an associates degree and I think either one of those would get you at least an entry level job already. It's also an online school so I would assume one would be working while going to school online.

nhpr

I got my WGU BS a few months ago to get my foot into IT, since I wanted to move into the industry. I just got a job as a sys admin at well-known hosting company. Obviously, I can't test and see whether I would have been hired without a college degree, but I'm guessing it helped.

W Stewart

nhpr wrote: »

I got my WGU BS a few months ago to get my foot into IT, since I wanted to move into the industry. I just got a job as a sys admin at well-known hosting company. Obviously, I can't test and see whether I would have been hired without a college degree, but I'm guessing it helped.

I had no idea WGU helped so many people get their foot in the door.

petedude

Any IT degree will help you get your foot in the door. There are spots where even an AS from a community college would give you a leg up.

WGU is still relatively new, and there's not THAT much word of mouth going around about it yet outside of certain communities it serves heavily (IT, education, nursing). Give the new state WGU units (Iowa, Texas, Washington) a few years to graduate a new crop, and then you should see the word of mouth picking up.

Mike-Mike

nhpr wrote: »

I got my WGU BS a few months ago to get my foot into IT, since I wanted to move into the industry. I just got a job as a sys admin at well-known hosting company. Obviously, I can't test and see whether I would have been hired without a college degree, but I'm guessing it helped.

did you have any previous experience?

nhpr

Mike-Mike wrote: »

did you have any previous experience?

Nope. Just playing with virtual machines and a few months' work I did for free at a college. Fortunately, there are companies out there that care more about what you know than how many years you've got on your resume.

powerfool

I would have to say that since there are people that can get a job without any degree, folks with a degree from WGU should be able to have at least the same chances at them and then some. Experience in real working environments and being able to communicate well are the most important skills. Having a degree listed shows that you at least take yourself seriously enough to invest in yourself.

On the flip-side, there are people of all walks having a difficult time finding a job.

I know that I have appeared critical of WGU in the past, but I don't think this one is easy to quantify, one way or the other.

swild

As someone starting WGU next month, it would be interesting to see how the grads on this forum are doing now compared to how they were before graduating.

powerfool

swild wrote: »

As someone starting WGU next month, it would be interesting to see how the grads on this forum are doing now compared to how they were before graduating.

Keep in mind that a degree isn't really a binary system, as far as benefit goes... having a degree vs. not having a degree. In a multi-year endeavor like this, you will see more benefit as you make progress. I made two job changes during my undergrad and making progress really showed employers that I was working towards the goal. Plus, being a business degree, I think I developed some soft-skills that helped me out, as well.

Alif_Sadida_Ekin

I graduated from WGU with the general BS in IT degree. I was already working as a Systems Administrator with several years of experience going in. Once I finished, I moved on to a new company specializing in Business Intelligence. The move came with a 20k increase in salary. Recently, I talked to my boss and found that if I didn't have my BS degree, I wouldn't have gotten an interview. Obviously, once in the interview, other factors determined whether they would hire me or not. However, I did find it interesting that I wouldn't have been given the chance if I didn't have the degree.

I absolutely love my job and couldn't imagine NOT being here. Seriously, there are some days I wake up and actually look forward to coming to work. That's my story. Take from it what you will.

LinuxRacr

Alif, as a UNIX sys admin myself with years of experience, I'll keep that in mind as I start WGU next month. In my company it seems that upward mobility can be hard to come by unless you leave or make a lateral leap to another area.

themagicone

My degree has helped get me interviews but not a job. I've applied for a ton of entry level IT jobs but nothing yet. I am partial to blame though, I don't want to do the $10/hour help desk thing so I've been ignoring most of those.

phaneuf1

themagicone wrote: »

My degree has helped get me interviews but not a job. I've applied for a ton of entry level IT jobs but nothing yet. I am partial to blame though, I don't want to do the $10/hour help desk thing so I've been ignoring most of those.

Are you kidding me? 10/h for a helpdesk support job? I make 26/h for a 1st level helpdesk job. Where do you live? Even the cart pusher at walmart make more than that here.

I see you live in minneapolis so I think there is no reason that you can't find a job in a healthy city like that. Double check your resume, sometimes only a detail can make all the difference.

erpadmin

phaneuf1 wrote: »

Are you kidding me? 10/h for a helpdesk support job? I make 26/h for a 1st level helpdesk job. Where do you live? Even the cart pusher at walmart make more than that here.

I think you replied to the wrong guy.... You can see where themagicone is from by looking at the left of his or anyone's post. (Some guys don't have that there, but I'll tell you I'm from NJ.)

With respect to themagicone, I personally wouldn't turn down any job if I needed to break in with experience. Reading his other threads, he's gaining experience through contract work. That's certainly a good route to take if one is gaining experience.

As for my own response to this thread, I've been getting a lot of inquiries on my LinkedIn for jobs and even had an interview before I graduated. I have to modify my account/resume to help it focus on the type of jobs I would leave my current job for, as I'm not interested in lateral moves. One recruiter even suggested I take a job at the midwest for less pay because COL is much cheaper....I told him in the most politest of ways...well, let's just say I said no thanks....

A WGU degree, or any degree is just a part of how you get jobs. Ultimately, how you market and leverage yourself (with or without any degree) is how you land a job. If you don't have experience, then you'll need to break into an IT career with an entry-level job. It may suck for a few months to a couple of years, but ultimately, the payoff will make it worth it in the end.

veritas_libertas

phaneuf1 wrote: »

Are you kidding me? 10/h for a helpdesk support job? I make 26/h for a 1st level helpdesk job. Where do you live? Even the cart pusher at walmart make more than that here.

I see you live in minneapolis so I think there is no reason that you can't find a job in a healthy city like that. Double check your resume, sometimes only a detail can make all the difference.

Lucky man. When I started out it was $8/hr working for my college. It's not unusual in the county I grew-up in for network admins to start out around $13 to $14 an hour. A lot of that has to do with where you live.

demonfurbie

net admins start at 8 an hour around here with 1000s of applicants

Psoasman

I have a good job now and don't intend to leave, unless it's a position I can't refuse. Getting my degree is one my ways to keep myself employable and maintain the habit of learning. My bosses noticed I am using downtime for studying they approve and that's always a good thing.

Psoasman

veritas_libertas wrote: »

Lucky man. When I started out it was $8/hr working for my college. It's not unusual in the county I grew-up in for network admins to start out around $13 to $14 an hour. A lot of that has to do with where you live.

That's a good point. In Washington state, IT jobs are increasing. You can make $20+ working helpdesk in Seattle, without too much trouble.

phaneuf1

But I have to admit that the economic situation in Canada is much better than America. I know that the unemployment rate in America is twice higher than in Canada. That could be one reason why salaries are lower in USA.

themagicone

Wages have TANKED in Minnesota ever since around 07-08. When I working full time I could demand $20 to $22/hour, now even with a degree most people laugh at me when I ask for $13-14. I'll stick to contract work for now if I can get enough hours.

erpadmin

phaneuf1 wrote: »

But I have to admit that the economic situation in Canada is much better than America. I know that the unemployment rate in America is twice higher than in Canada. That could be one reason why salaries are lower in USA.

I remember (and long) for the good ol' days when the US dollar in Canada meant that I'd have the red carpet rolled out for me. If something was $5 CDN, I could give $5 US and say keep the change. Those days are gone now...but they can easily come back again.

Also, since we want to play with math, Canada's population is about equal to about the NY/NJ/CT population. All things being equal, if you take 30 million people from certain regions of the US, the unemployment rate is either equal or better than Canada.

Finally, let's not forget which country is Canada's largest trading partner...(and a hint, it's not the country where the Queen of Canada lives...... )

azjag

My BS degree helped me get through the HR filter that required a degree for consideration. Past that everything depended on my experience and how well I sold myself to the person doing the interview. I might have to leave my Masters degree off my resume as I get the feeling some employers will consider me over qualified for a position. But that depends on the position. I'm considering applying for the Sysadmin Supervisor position at my job which doesn't require a MS degree but preference is given to those with one.

phaneuf1

erpadmin wrote: »

I remember (and long) for the good ol' days when the US dollar in Canada meant that I'd have the red carpet rolled out for me. If something was $5 CDN, I could give $5 US and say keep the change. Those days are gone now...but they can easily come back again.

Also, since we want to play with math, Canada's population is about equal to about the NY/NJ/CT population. All things being equal, if you take 30 million people from certain regions of the US, the unemployment rate is either equal or better than Canada.

Finally, let's not forget which country is Canada's largest trading partner...(and a hint, it's not the country where the Queen of Canada lives...... )

Don't get me wrong, i'm pro america and this is where I want to pursue my IT career, but it's too easy to take some healthy American cities and compare it to Canada, a whole country. I could to the same thing comparing it to some America's poorest cities and Canada would win. I'm just saying that, generally, Canada is in a better situation than USA right now. But I think that USA has more potential than Canada in long term.

tpatt100

My bachelors just helps me get throught the HR checklist. How I perform in the interview is someting else entirely. But then again I got a job before where come to find out they had a bunch of finalists and they decided to hire me since I was the only one of the ten or so that had a four year degree. All of us had the same experience levels and certs from what I found out.

drkat

I love Canada - go there a few times a year. I always thought Canadians were making big money or least the way of life vs the US seems ALOT better

phaneuf1

drkat wrote: »

I love Canada - go there a few times a year. I always thought Canadians were making big money or least the way of life vs the US seems ALOT better

This is more a more liberal and socialist country. USA is a more capitalist and conservative country. It could be one reason.

snokerpoker

I finished up my BS degree in September. I am already employed but my degree did help me get over 10% salary increase.