r/wguaccounting • u/DrizzyBoi • Dec 18 '25
Hey all,
I see posts all the time regarding the job hunt post WGU and with the current job market I figured I’d give my insight and tips which might prove to be helpful to some! The bulk of the advice will apply to people new to the accounting field and are in the early stages of their WGU journey. I will provide tips to those further along, just finishing up with their degree as well. Fair warning, this will be long.
First things first is to decide which path you are pursuing; Public, Industry, or Government. They all vary in terms of workload, career trajectory, and pay.
Public: This is the most common career path for most accountants. This is the typical CPA firm, Big 4, etc. The hours are the most grueling in public accounting especially during busy season (Jan-April). Going Public you will lean towards a specific focus, usually Audit or Tax. You’ll usually be working with a variety of clients and will get the most hands on experience dealing with all aspects of an audit, or a variety of tax scenarios.
Pros:
Cons:
Industry: Corporate accounting. Very broad, think F500 companies, tech companies, car dealerships, the flower shop down the street; you get the point. You’ll be typically dealing with month-end closing of the books, reconciliations, and working on internal financials and controls. Hours are much more manageable compared to public, but during month-end, quarter-end and year-end expect to put in 50-55 hours usually depending on the company. In contrast to public, you are focusing on just one company.
Pros:
Cons:
Government: Local/State/Feds. You’ll be working in a government agency, dealing with budgets, compliance and overseeing public funds. The hours are the most “laidback” of the three, usually 40 hours/week maybe 45.
Pros:
Cons:
Now that you have a general idea of the 3 main sectors of accounting, let's get into what you should expect while you’re getting your degree done. With the way the current job market is, I would highly recommend securing an internship, or accounting adjacent job (AR/AP). Having some experience will go a long way and if your plan is to go into public, then an internship is a trial run for the firm to extend you a full-time offer.
IMPORTANT: Public (and sometimes industry) start hiring for their internships 6-12 months in advance. You need to be proactive about applying early so that you can have something lined up, ESPECIALLY if you are accelerating.
In my situation, I finished my degree in 2 terms and started applying towards the end of my first term (May/June) for an internship during busy season ‘26. I interviewed with Big 4, Regional CPA Firms, and a couple F500 companies.
To get prepped for applying the first thing you’ll have to do is polish up your resume. I will attach the template that I used below. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT have a resume that is more than 1 page long. I assure you, you don’t need it. Use ChatGPT to clean up your phrasing, but do not use it to write your resume for you. Many recruiters can tell what is generated and what is actually written by a person. WGU also has resources that can help with your resume, take advantage of those as well if you need more hands on help.
Once your resume is ready to go, you can start applying. I mainly used Indeed and LinkedIn to find postings but check Handshake out as well there are always opportunities there. Some search terms to use are:
Something I did that I didn’t see recommended enough; I looked up the local CPA firms near me that were more than just a solo practice. I went to their website under their career section and applied there if they weren’t on other websites. For those that didn’t have any links listed, I looked through the website to find an email contact for their HR/Recruiter and emailed them directly with a copy of my resume. I introduced myself in the email and mentioned I was looking for an internship. This requires a bit more initiative and selling in the initial email, but one of the firms I interviewed at was not actively hiring interns but gave me a shot based on the email. I ended up declining their offer, but it shows this method can pay off.
I would also recommend creating a simple excel sheet, tracking all the jobs you apply for and listing when interviews are etc. It helps to keep things organized and you don’t waste time guessing if you applied already or not. I will attach my template below as well.
When it comes to the interviews, especially for internships, you do not need to stress about being asked technical questions. I had 10 1st interviews and 7 2nd interviews, I was never once asked any technical questions. The closest thing related to coursework was if I had completed IA1 or not. That is it. The standard that I encountered for interviews was:
I never had any interviews go past the 2nd, I was either offered a position after or told that they had gone a different direction.
For entry-level positions, interviews are a vibe check. They want to make sure that the person they hire is going to fit in well with the firm, team etc. Most of the questions are your standard interview fare. Talk about strengths/weaknesses, explain the thought process behind handling certain scenarios, and the most important: tell me about yourself.
I cannot stress enough that you should have a general answer ready to go in regards to the “tell me about yourself” question. It shouldn’t come off rehearsed, but having points you want to hit in mind will make you sound confident. This question is the main “sell yourself” question and is what most people will use to analyze the vibe check. You will be asked this question at every level, first and second interviews.
For example, mine was something roughly like this:
Yours will vary based on your hobbies and interests, but it is important to show that you have a life outside of work and most importantly a personality. I treat these questions as if I was meeting a friend of a friend and introducing myself to provide them with some insight so they can get to know me. Sound natural, not robotic.
In regards to the other behavior-based questions that you will get in the interviews, something I discovered on reddit which helped me a lot was the STAR method of question answering. This comment on a thread describes it perfectly: Here
Example: Can you describe a time where you encountered an obstacle at work or school and how you overcame it?
S: Absolutely, one that immediately comes to mind was a few years back during the COVID outbreak. I was working retail and was tasked with figuring out a way to keep sales up during lockdown and the general downturn of foot traffic during that time.
T: The goal was to maintain sales level and ideally add additional revenue.
A: I took on the task of updating our online presence, we had historically relied on our tenure in the area and word of mouth. I started with improving our social media presence and posting regularly, in addition I setup a basic online storefront for the company and began with our most popular items while eventually adding more inventory.
R: The results spoke for themselves very quickly, we were able to gain over X followers in a X amount of time and increased monthly revenues by 10% just from the website. Overtime this resulted in a x% increase compared to our pre-covid numbers and not only helped the business maintain, but surpass previous numbers.
Having a general scenario in your pocket is key as many STAR/Behavior related questions can be answered by molding and tweaking the story to the question.
Post interviews are a waiting game. I always made sure to ask at the end of each interview, what the next steps in the process would be. Usually I was told they would reach back out within X amount of time regarding what would come next. I usually heard back within the time frame that was given, only once did I not hear back.
Something that the internet is divided on is a follow-up email post interview. After each interview I sent an email within a day or two, thanking the person for their time. Nothing long winded. I found success with this method and was told by the firm I ended up accepting a position with that this helped me stand out in their eyes and keep me in mind.
After this you either have an internship/job secured. If so, congratulations! If not, then we go to Plan B.
For those that weren’t able to secure a position with this process do not fear! Your game plan should be to work towards getting a position where you can get any kind of relevant experience. I have friends who are in the accounting field and they mentioned that people took many alternative paths to break in.
Some options are:
This allows you to get your foot in the door and start gaining relevant work experience which can bolster your resume for future applications. With many states lowering the CPA requirements, a masters may not be necessary anymore to sit for the exam. While you work an entry-level position getting a headstart on studying for the CPA exams is great.
From here it is a repeat of the application and interview process.
I apologize for making this post so long, I know that I spent a lot of time on various subs trying to get advice and insight into this whole process. Figured I’d give back and hope it would be helpful to someone.
Feel free to ask me any questions, would be happy to answer whatever I can. This process worked for me and as a result I received internship offers at: 2 Big 4, 5 regional firms, and at a F50 healthcare company. I ended up going with one of the regional firms as their culture aligned more with what I had in mind.
Templates:
Job Tracker Template (when you download excel file you will have to format the "applied?" column by inserting a checkbox in it)
r/wguaccounting • u/PollardPhotography • Feb 18 '26
Happy Tuesday, fellow Night Owls!
I wanted to share some resources I've seen around which offer free access to valuable tools for active students.
Because I really wanted to prioritize value, I'm going to share my top two, both of which I've personally tried and can vouch for their legitimacy:
Google Gemini AI Pro - Students qualify for 1 free year of Google's Gemini AI Pro. This includes access to their "most accurate" AI model, 2 TB of Google Drive storage, image generation with Nano Banana, customized quiz creation for studying, and a host of other tools you can use for education and career development.
Microsoft 365 Premium and LinkedIn Premium Career - Students qualify for 1 free year of Microsoft 365 Premium and LinkedIn Premium Career. This provides access to the full suite of Microsoft 365 applications, including built-in Copilot AI capabilities. LinkedIn Premium offers a variety of features to build your network and make connections with recruiters and hiring managers to begin or advance your career.
Are there any other worthwhile student freebies or discounts you've found worth sharing? Please comment/link below to help compile a more complete list!
I hope everyone is having a great term, thank you for being part of the community and best wishes!
r/wguaccounting • u/Acceptable_Box8809 • 1h ago
I'm struggling so bad with this class and I'm seeing a lot of posts about hannah's notes. This is the only approach I didnt take with my studying for the other attempts. Can someone (that also struggled and passed) please tell me if hannah's notes helped at all?
r/wguaccounting • u/FitAirline1611 • 7h ago
I have no idea what remote access are they talking about.. i tried to take the test twice… i contacted the assessment services and they said they found a Velianet Remote Access which i was trying to find in my installed apps and there was NONE! task manager NONE! Now im deleting all my apps in my laptop 😭 i scheduled an OA again later 7:30am 😭 .
r/wguaccounting • u/Dayannisol • 7h ago
I’ve taken the OA twice, idk what else I can do to not feel discouraged and keep trying. Any tips?
r/wguaccounting • u/Designer-Cheek1024 • 14h ago
I have read through 4 modules of D217. While I am confident with the first 2, I know I am not comfortable even one bit with the other 2. The textbooks feels so dense that my notes have now exceeded 50 pages, and I'm not even done half the modules. At this pace, my notes might become so dense that they become unusable.
Each module is taking me more than a day to finish (I am working while finishing D217) and I don't know if I should continue.
I have no IT experience and am trying to finish this course as soon as possible as my term ends on the 31st of October.
Please, tell me if:
r/wguaccounting • u/Prestigious-Day4691 • 16h ago
HMU if you starting the same time and let’s work together to get this degree done together got 21 classes left transferred 19 classes from Sophia
r/wguaccounting • u/Flavintown • 22h ago
Just wanting to hear from others. I doubt I’ll be able to get an internship at this point since I’ll be graduating in the summer. I know a lot of people accelerate which makes interning difficult since they hire so far in advance. For those that weren’t able to get an internship, how is/was the job hunt? I’ve been working in AP for almost a year now and I’m hoping that’ll somewhat boost my resume, but I am worried about job prospects in actual accounting positions once I graduate bc of my lack of internships.
r/wguaccounting • u/Optimal_Beat_7140 • 9h ago
I am looking for ways that people have continued to accelerate at the end of their degree plan. I keep seeing that people have finished in one or two terms and I am in my third term with 11 classes left. I desperately don’t want to do a fourth term. What did accelerating look like for those who have done it? I am needing specific advice.. how many hours/day were you studying, did you have any certain methods that helped you finish, etc…
Any advice would be appreciated! I am currently in Intermediate Accounting 1 about to take my 2nd OA. This course has been hard and I have heard IA2 & 3 will be worse..
Here are the 11 courses I have left:
D103 Intermediate Accounting I (in progress)
D104 Intermediate Accounting II
D105 Intermediate Accounting III
D215 Auditing
D216 Business Law for Accountants
D217 Accounting Information Systems
C720 Operations and Supply Chain Management
C721 Change Management
D079 Business Environment Applications II
D080 Managing in a Global Business Environment
D361 Business Simulation
r/wguaccounting • u/Hot-Boysenberry4591 • 17h ago
I've 8 courses left to do till december 31st. I'll be doing these courses full time. How doable is this?
r/wguaccounting • u/peilicious • 15h ago
hi all!
as the title says, im considering transfering from the Ohio State University and finishing my degree thru WGU. im a junior, but im just now taking my first accounting class due to going to a regional campus for my first 2 years and im expected to graduate summer 2028 if all goes well.
im burnt out of traditional college and struggling with my accounting class (i have a D) and im considering transferring so i could learn at more of my own pace. i like the idea of working full time and studying online more than my current situation. i also want to move out of ohio ASAP, so pursuing my degree online would give me an earlier out. either way, i plan to get my CPA after i graduate and move.
i was just wondering, as students and graduates of WGU, do you think it’s worth it in my case to transfer or should i see it through at OSU? the only thing i worry about is giving up the prestige of the OSU name
r/wguaccounting • u/Few_Wafer_1209 • 1d ago
Failed OA#2, the test seemed to be more on the conceptial side of things. I followed most of the advice given here like memorizing the ratios which i found very helpful when doing the practice questions. The test hardly had any questions with ratios. Any adive would be helpful.
Subjects on Test.
- Treasury stock when sold and the journal entries.
- Antidilutive and diluted.
- Premium and discount, and their journal entries.
- Straight-line method, double-declining balance method, and sum-of-years digits—all appeared on the test.
- How to get the interest expense.
- Proportional and incremental methods.
r/wguaccounting • u/No_Role_7581 • 1d ago
I cannot understand half of the modules, I’m working my way through unit 3.
Just to cover myself I read the module (which genuinely leaves me confused) then I use other resources (mainly ChatGPT) to learn the rest- and I can usually understand it that way.
Any other resources you have are helpful because the bulk of the WGU material is a foreign language to me
r/wguaccounting • u/InternalFowl-637 • 1d ago
Hi all. I’m looking for some advice and insight.
I have an Associate’s in CS and managed to get 12 courses transferred in and now have 28 courses remaining. First of all, is that good enough? Or should I seek to get more courses done by Sophia or Study? I was going to have my start date be December 1 but I’m wondering if I have delay it now to January 1 instead.
I’d like to keep costs low as much as possible with this degree and I don’t want to prolong it to the best of my ability. However, I’m hesitating about accelerating.
Since I’ve got no experience in accounting, I feel like I shouldn’t be accelerating through the courses? At least, for the core accounting courses; for these, I may need to make sure I understand.
But I’m also wondering about the other courses that aren’t gen ed and are more program specific, like business or finance related, but not exactly the core accounting courses — is it worth it be slow and pay attention to these or is accelerating through them okay?
I have to look at the transfer pathway sheet again, so I’m not sure, but I keep seeing others transferring in many more credits than mine because of Sophia or Study and I’m sure these are definitely more than just the gen ed courses.
I’ve no experience or enough familiarity with accounting. I’m also not quite sure where I want to work in accounting just yet. I plan to fix this before starting WGU though. I really wanna be proficient in accounting by the end of WGU and I want to save time and cost but I won’t accelerate too much if it won’t personally do me any good in the long run.
Any advice or insight, please?
r/wguaccounting • u/Same-Charge-1849 • 2d ago
It's a 6-month mentorship program that pairs college students with mentors who work at BDO. You're expected to meet at least once a month virtually or in person.
My mentor connected me with the recruiter and partner for my desired office and service line. I later applied for an internship, got fast-tracked to the interview stage, and they ended up offering me a full-time associate role starting next month instead.
I have an unrelated humanities degree and a few years of experience in a corporate career that isn't in financial services, but has transferrable skills to my service line. I haven't even finished my WGU accounting degree yet.
As far as I know, BDO is the only T10 or higher PA firm that has a program like this. The program runs from June to November. You can find more details here: https://www.bdo.com/careers/internship/pathway-to-success-program
Your mileage may vary of course, but I got really lucky with my mentor and this program definitely changed my life. The recruiter and everyone I talked to loved that I already had job experience and that I had the grit to balance working full-time while going to school full-time.
If you want to break into public accounting, definitely consider it!
r/wguaccounting • u/Solid-Kiwi-6292 • 2d ago
Hello Fellow Night Owls!
I am looking for guidance, tips, or suggestions on how you secured your first accounting role after graduating from WGU.
I spent a decade as a Program Manager in the staffing industry, but my lifelong dream was always to pivot into accounting. In November 2024, that dream came true when I finished my degree! I am eager to finally step into the field I am truly passionate about, and I plan to pursue my CMA to leverage my heavy operations and management background.
Right now, I am targeting Staff Accountant roles but am hitting a wall with automated rejections despite updating my resume multiple times.
If anyone has recently broken into the field or has advice on navigating this market as a career-changer, I would be immensely grateful for your insights, resume tips, or networking advice!
r/wguaccounting • u/CodSad9214 • 2d ago
Feeling good about my first few weeks at WGU. Transferred in 51cu from Sophia and came with accounting experience which has definitely helped. I was nervous for D101 but passed with flying colors in just over a day. Excited (and nervous) for Intermediate 1, I feel like I should be getting into some new material soon so I'm anticipating having to slow down a bit which is fine 😊 Any insights into what to expect for D103? I'm currently a staff accountant with about 10 years prior ap/ar work.
r/wguaccounting • u/TourneyThrowawa • 2d ago
I am strongly considering WGU as I believe I can tackle the coursework in a reasonable amount of time. I am aware that currently the accounting job market is not excellent and highly competitive. Has anyone had a similar experience of breaking into the market with relatively no experience? The state I’m in has a lot of government positions open atm with limited to no experience required. Would love some insight! The good, the bad, and the ugly of it all
r/wguaccounting • u/No-Seaworthiness3115 • 2d ago
After taking the day off work, asking my family to leave the house while I take the test and studying the material....my OA for C723 didn't load any of the images. A majority of the test is interpreting graphs and data. Is anyone else having this problem?
I never was a fan of their exam system and dread taking these proctored exams. Luckily, I have 10 classes left. I did get confirmation that this wouldn't count against me. After some back and fourth with WGU they told me to try to re-schedule the exam tomorrow :')
Still....super frustrating!!!
r/wguaccounting • u/Mimichapters • 2d ago
Hello everyone!
I just finished the PA for D552 Data Analytics for Accountants 1 and I was wondering, for those who passed the OA what did you use? I was planning on using Quizlet and chapter quizzes.
Also, does the Practice Assessment material align well with the OA? Thank you!
r/wguaccounting • u/MajesticLow • 2d ago
Ok I didn’t know this so hopefully this helps someone who didn’t either…
I have Microsoft Office student edition software on my computer, so I didn’t want to download the free version that you get as a WGU student because I already purchased it long before I thought of starting at WGU.
Anyway, now I’m at D102 Financial Accounting, and need the My Educator add-in. I learned that if I go to “switch account” (example in Excel - go to the file tab, go to the bottom of the left column, click “account” then look at the top where it says “user information” - you should see your info however you’re logged in. Click “switch account”). Once you click “switch account” - log in with your credentials [your WGU user name]@wgu.edu and password, and it will switch you into the WGU license for the software and in Excel, you’ll get the Add-ins section added under the Home section and you can add the MyEducator add-in from there.
One sidenote - when you do switch account, you can opt in for logging into all Microsoft software with you WGU login or just limit it to the specific app you’re in.
I hope this helps, good luck!
r/wguaccounting • u/CoolAmoeba1302 • 2d ago
Does anyone have any tips on passing the OA for course D077? I’ve been on this course for weeks and have studied and studied, took notes, completed the study guide questions after first test attempt that I failed. And I still failed a second time. Looked at the coaching report and it looks like I barely failed the second time compared to first time. I’m not sure why I’m having a hard time with this one. I feel like I know majority of the material but somehow I’m still failing 😩 I hope I’m not the only one that feels like this course is the hardest so far.
r/wguaccounting • u/Interesting-Hair6324 • 3d ago
I had put off this class for months on end, literally at least 2 1/2 months. I finally realized I needed to get over the hump and stop procrastinating to move on to the other classes so I could try to accelerate some.
On day 1, I spent most of if not all day taking notes on the entire course. I put them in one big document on word. I also included the review questions at the end!
On day 2, I uploaded those notes one by one (Unit 1 Lesson 1, Unit 1 Lesson 2) basically one lesson at a time into chat gpt with the prompt "Use the uploaded documents to help prepare me for a test in 30 minutes, make sure i'm able to answer the review questions at the end, and let me take a practice quiz. I would then write out the notes of important terms and things to remember, it ended up being about a page and a half for each lesson. Then I'd answer the quiz chat GPT gave me, it would be different from the review questions which was helpful. Then I'd go into the actual course and take the lesson quiz for that lesson. On this day I got to about Unit 4 until I was tired. Probably spent about 7 hours on this.
On day 3, I finished the review process from day 2 for Units 4, 5, and 6. This took about 5 hours (maybe less). Then I took the pre assessment, which took me about 50 minutes! I then saw I passed so I went ahead and took the OA which took about 40 minutes, and I passed! One thing I wish I would've focused more on was the costing methodologies, I confused them so easily on the test somehow! I also didn't encounter too many questions that needed formulas!
r/wguaccounting • u/NatiAti513 • 3d ago
I Cannot for the life of me pass D217 Accounting Information Systems. Help needed!
Some context, I have breezed through every course so far, only had to retake one test but for the life of me I cannot pass the OA for D217. I am convinced the test is made for you to retake it multiple times and there is a ton of luck involved.
I am an advanced reader and I have experience in the accounting field. Yet, NONE OF IT MAKES ANY SENSE on the OA.
I passed the PA with exemplary on the first try.
I have put so much information into chatGPT and Gemini and told it to quiz me many times and to make it hard. I have studied every single section extensively and found so many ways to apply each concept. But the way the OA is worded makes absolutely no sense and everything that you know about a concept goes right out the window in the OA. Does anyone else notice that there's literally grammatical errors and misspelled words that litter the OA as well?
I seriously need some help and advice on this course because it is absolutely holding me back and I only have 14 days left in my term.
r/wguaccounting • u/lajaqkins • 3d ago
I tried to take my OA for Quantitative Analysis for Business and most of the Images for the middle part and towards the end did not show.
My proctor tried to use Chrome to see if it show but it didn’t. I’m highly disappointed because I spent an entire day reviewing just for me to not be able to see the material I need to work from..
Any help with this? I’m scared to schedule again just for me to have the same issue.
