r/wguaccounting Dec 18 '25

Career Talk Guide, Advice and Tips for Job Search

76 Upvotes

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: 

  • Defined career path (staff, senior, manager, senior manager, director/partner etc.)
  • Boost when you get your CPA
  • Great exit ops. Even better if you can make it to senior accountant/manager before dipping to industry. 

Cons:

  • Non-existent WLB during busy season 
  • Potentially traveling around, usually if audit. 
  • Starting pay is usually lower than industry, but many firms are starting to offer more to first year associates. 
  • Most reliant on networking, campus recruiting, internships to get your foot in the door. 
  • CPA is heavily pushed, without it don’t expect to advance past the senior accountant position. 

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: 

  • Better starting pay than public or government. 
  • Much better WLB (average 40-45 hours/week) 
  • Opportunity to learn about the company’s financials from the ground up. 
  • CPA is not as necessary, though still a big boost if eventual goal is manager/controller/CFO. 

Cons:

  • While the same levels exist (staff, senior etc). The promotional path is much slower than public. 
  • Job-hopping is usually required to see larger bumps in salary and promotions. 
  • Depending on the type of industry, can become pigeon-held in a specific sector (healthcare, tech, etc) 
    • This is more of a pro and con, as you will gain valuable experience which will increase your stock but can work against you should you decide to switch sectors.

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: 

  • Best WLB of the three; no real “busy season” unless you end up at the IRS. 
  • Great benefits and PTO 
  • Typically seen as the most “secure” but during the current political climate that notion has lessened a bit. 
  • Decent pay related to the amount of work and stress. 
  • CPA not necessary but can help with growth. 

Cons:

  • Lowest paying out of the three, and no big bumps in pay like public or industry. 
  • Promotions come slow and are more tied to tenure/how long you’ve been there. 
  • Anecdotal but some say the work can be boring and monotonous. 

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:

  • Audit Intern
  • Tax Intern
  • Audit Associate
  • Tax Associate
  • Staff Accountant
  • Entry-Level Accountant

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:

  • First Interview: Generally with HR/Recruiting
  • Second Interview: With Partner/Director

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:

  • Mention WGU and full-time job
  • Give insight into myself outside of work and school
    • Like to spend time with wife and dog
    • Love to golf
    • Love of food. Trying new restaurants, cooking new recipes
    • Love of travel, and how the detail-oriented person in me enjoys planning trips and itineraries. 

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:

  • HR Block etc (if you’re leaning tax)
  • Temp Agencies (Robert Half etc)
  • Cold emailing local firms (as i mentioned above) to see if they have any openings. 
  • Finding any AP/AR role at a company 

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:

Resume Template

Job Tracker Template (when you download excel file you will have to format the "applied?" column by inserting a checkbox in it)


r/wguaccounting Feb 18 '26

Perks & Freebies for WGU Accounting Students

67 Upvotes

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 2h ago

New / Prospective Student Questions on the BS Accounting program at WGU

8 Upvotes

Hello! I am considering changing plans and going to WGU after seeing how fast some people finish and how much cheaper it would be.

I already have a bachelors degree, unrelated to accounting. Some courses that I have completed are close enough to the courses in the degree plan that I think should count but they are not giving me transfer credit for. If you have experienced this, were you able to negotiate this and receive additional transfer credit?

I am wondering how long it would realistically take for me to complete this degree in my situation.

I wish WGU had a MS Accounting degree plan for non-accounting majors, that is the only reason I am considering pursuing the second bachelors degree since the total cost of both at WGU is still much cheaper than the MS Accounting program I was accepted to that is designed for non-accounting majors.

Thanks!


r/wguaccounting 2h ago

Seeking Course Help D217 AIS OA preparation advice needed

3 Upvotes

Hi, I am three weeks into studying for AIS and I am considering taking the OA today or tomorrow. I would like to know if you all have any advice going into the OA for the first attempt? I am nervous about the scenario based questions and I don't know what to expect.

I've done all the study guides, reading, and centgage practice tests and quizzes. Do you think that will be enough to prepare myself for the OA? Thank you


r/wguaccounting 17h ago

Sharing Tips & Resources Gamify tool to learn accounting?

38 Upvotes

Howdy howdy. I wrapped up my bachelors in accounting with WGU last year, the IAs sucked. Started the MAcc this year and hope to do the CPA next year. But the same issue keeps occurring, where there's some things that just have to be rote learned and journal entries to be written out.

SO I got my spouse to help make a game study aid to practice the hands on things, building the mindset of double entry accounting, debits and credits, etc etc. Would anyone else find that useful? What sticking points from any part of learning accounting would be helpful to include? Depreciation? Leases? It's structured as a forensic accounting/fraud hunting game that requires learning all of the rules in order to spot when the rules are being broken, which applies to real life accounting too.
The game is linked below for reference:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4662560/For_God_and_For_Profit/

**Mods, sorry if this isn't allowed


r/wguaccounting 11m ago

Seeking Course Help Has anyone done sophia.org and could elaborate

Upvotes

I’m currently looking into accounting but I have no prior school experience outside of high school. I’m really confused about what gen Ed’s I should take and how many courses I’m required to take at WGU for accounting. It’s all really confusing to me I’ve heard some people say they weren’t able to take their CPA because of it. I was hoping to have this done within 2 years and only want to pay wgu for 1 semester hopefully. Let me know if this is realistic and if anyone has a layout or could elaborate what gen Ed’s to do and what not to do I would really appreciate it.


r/wguaccounting 8h ago

Seeking Course Help D559 Advanced Managerial Accounting - Textbook?

2 Upvotes

I finished the BS in June. I had purchased the physical textbook for the IAs and found it to be very helpful to have a hard copy. I'm starting the MAcc-Mgmt program on 8/1. I know I won't have the D559 course just yet, but does anyone know which textbook they use for that class? I'd like to go ahead and start looking for a hard copy of it. Thanks!


r/wguaccounting 20h ago

Sharing Tips & Resources D105 harder than D104 imo + a couple small tips

5 Upvotes

I just finished IA3, I spent more time than I would've liked on OA1 because I tried to speedrun it and managed to get it locked (and boy will I NEVER do that again). I just finished that on Monday and then just finished OA2 about 5 minutes ago.

Not gonna lie, OA2 felt a lot harder than D104 OA2 despite what everyone says. It definitely wasn't quite as technical and in-depth as the reading material would suggest, but you still really do need to pay attention. I think the range of subjects it covers is what made it feel difficult to me. D104 OA2 had 3 major topics and this one had 5.

Some tips I guess:
Spend 10-15 minutes to do the practice questions for pensions all the way through and that's all you need to know. You'll learn like 2 things to look for and that's it.
Spend the majority of your time on Leases(I think this is generally the consensus) as it is probably the most technical part of the OA and although it says 24% I swear it was closer to 30%. If you don't know when to use what you will be playing a guessing game that you cannot use intuition to get through.
SCM is pretty straight forward imo, probably half way between leases and pensions. I wish I had spent a bit more time here. I literally half watched the video and used the PA to study it which at least for this section, was pretty much the same as the OA.
For the disclosure stuff, I actually forgot to study it and only used the PA, I would probably recommend doing the practice questions for this as well and not skipping it like I did because I was just using test taking skills and making educated guesses to get an approaching competence on this section.

Regardless, I'm just happy to be done with the IA classes and am excited that I'm so close to being done!


r/wguaccounting 1d ago

Seeking Course Help D216 Business Law

12 Upvotes

Taking the OA later today and very nervous! Any tips would be greatly appreciated!!


r/wguaccounting 1d ago

Seeking Course Help D361 Business Simulation

5 Upvotes

Anyone have any recommendations for ways to get through the class within 10 days? I’m going through the book, cohort, simulation checklist. Is that enough to hopefully pass this sim the first time. Thanks! 🙏🏻


r/wguaccounting 1d ago

Seeking Course Help D215 auditing oa vs pa?

4 Upvotes

This course seems pretty easy, im going to watch cohorts to make sure I got everything down while still completing quizlets.

Does the pa align with the oa?

What should I focus on most.

Is the oa pretty easy?

Thanks


r/wguaccounting 2d ago

Seeking Course Help D554 help: Advanced Financial Accounting 1

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8 Upvotes

Does anyone have any tips for D554? I studied the PA and took it several times but the OA felt more difficult especially the conceptual questions.


r/wguaccounting 2d ago

Confetti! 7 Month Update! I am DONE!

Post image
124 Upvotes

I posted back in December of 2025 about me starting this degree in January of 2026 and the ten classes I needed to do and wanted to complete in one semester. I am proud to announce I have finished it! I'm just waiting for my confetti while my graduation application is processing.

There were times I felt like my head was going to explode, and wasn't sure if I was going to make my goal, but with the love and support of my family (and the assistance of a 30 day extension) I am finally finished.

Thank you so much for all the support on my original post!

Anyone still going through it, YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!!


r/wguaccounting 1d ago

Seeking Course Help D215 OA Advice Needed

2 Upvotes

Hey everyone, do you have any tips and advice for taking the OA for D215? What was on the OA and what to study and make sure you know before taking the OA? Thanks!


r/wguaccounting 2d ago

General Discussion Masters Cap & Gown?

0 Upvotes

I am 5'8- 5'9, looking to reuse a cap and gown if anyone has a master's version. Doesn't need to be 100%, but thought I would check before buying one.


r/wguaccounting 2d ago

Seeking Course Help D080 - Study Guide

2 Upvotes

I've read lots of great tips for D080, one of those being to use the cohorts as the primary source to pass the OA. Does anyone here have a study guide or word document that they created to help them study what was on the cohorts? I tried using ChatGPT to create one using the transcripts this morning, but not much luck there. I like having the info typed out out to read as well as the videos to go along with it.


r/wguaccounting 3d ago

Career Talk Internship / job advice

28 Upvotes

Hi, I’m over 50% of the way done with my BS in accounting at wgu and am looking for advice on how to land and internship / job. I have started applying to many many internships and jobs over the past month and never even get the time of day from any of them or they’re just scam listings. And honestly there is a surprisingly low amount of opportunities near me considering I am in Orange County. Is it just the market ? Or is it better to wait until i have graduated with my bachelors?


r/wguaccounting 2d ago

Seeking Course Help Login for D388*

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2 Upvotes

Hi, after selecting “go to material” has anyone ever been prompted to log in?


r/wguaccounting 3d ago

Seeking Course Help C716 Time to complete?

2 Upvotes

How long should this class take? I'm hoping to have it done by the end of the week? is that feasible?


r/wguaccounting 3d ago

CPA Discussion Would I be able to take my CPA exam?

3 Upvotes

So I plan on finishing up my bachelors in accounting in March. I already have a bachelor's in business management and an associate in business administration from a different college, so I meet the 150 credit hours and the high level Business classes needed.

I live in Arkansas and will get certified here. I work in Accounts Payable but so I don't think I qualify for work experience.

I have seen so much conflicting information when I try to figure out if I can. I need to know if I need to get my master's or if I don't have to.

If I do need to get my master's, would the auditing masters be a good choice?

Edit (07/22/26)

I have been told by my state CPA association that I would immediately be able to sit for the exam and would only need one additional class - 3 credit hours - to get my certification. Apparently working as an AP Specialist counts towards my 1 year of accounting work :D


r/wguaccounting 3d ago

Seeking Course Help how the teachers grade assessments

1 Upvotes

I did C717 as my very first class at wgu and thought i did everything very thoroughly but would get it sent back to me to redo. Still ended up finishing it in a week due to the time it takes for her to evaluate it. Then when i started my next class D082 my 2 assessments were very simple and i was expecting to get it returned but both were passed on first attempt. Im assuming this is all based off the teacher of the course?


r/wguaccounting 3d ago

CPA Discussion Have you been able to obtain your CPA after completing your degree through WGU?

24 Upvotes

I guess this is to those who might be here after having already graduated and are working in the field now.

But did you have any issues getting your CPA? I know it varies state to state and I've noticed some don't have a 2000-4000 hour requirement but they want something like 80-150 hours per semester. If you're in one of those states has this been an issue for you?

TIA.


r/wguaccounting 3d ago

New / Prospective Student D196 and learning excel

4 Upvotes

Currently, I am just starting my accounting courses, I’m on my first course which is D196 and I was doing great timing wise all the way up to excel. Now that it’s incorporated, I procrastinate. A lot. Any excuse I can find to not work on school material. Then I’ll pick it back up and do good until it gets to more things involving excel. Anyone else struggling with this block? I mean I know it’s a tool that can be useful and important to learn, but should I be reconsidering my major for this?


r/wguaccounting 4d ago

Seeking Course Help D 105 - Module 2 quiz

2 Upvotes

Why are they subtracting the cost and not the fair value? Isn't "passive interest" supposed to use FV?


r/wguaccounting 4d ago

Career Talk I’m in AP and starting to transition to some Staff Accountant job duties

17 Upvotes

I’m 70% done with my course work and I’m not sure If I even like accounting or if I’m just burnt out on working full time and doing school. I’m taking a term break and thinking of quitting my AP role and doing part time retail work so it’s mindless easy work. I tend to be too tired to study and engage in studying by the end of the day. The work culture at my job is not the best either, I feel like everything I do is wrong and I love learning but there’s no teacher it’s just task given and I have to figure it out. I have the possibility of taking another staff account role at a different company full time but again do I even like accounting?

Is this feeling normal? Did I choose the wrong major? I’m taking a term break in August and seeing how that goes.