I'll have 1 degree to go please (knowledge request)

[TheDegreeSeeker]

Greetings, 

I am new to the forum looking to obtain a second degree. I would gladly accept any knowledge or advice from this niche forum. 
I currently have a BS Business Administration (awarded in 2013) No Associates degrees, No certificate degrees
19 additional credit hours in accounting courses after the Business Admin Degree

In particular, I am wanting to qualify for the federal recent graduate pathway program which requires that I have obtained a degree within the past two years which I have not as of now - it was 9 years previously. 

• Recent graduates who have completed, within the previous two years, a qualifying associates, bachelors, masters, professional, doctorate, vocational or technical degree or certificate from a qualifying educational institution.
  

The college that I have taken my 19 additional credit hours of accounting at does not offer a certificate in accounting. To obtain a certificate in business or an associates, I would be required to take 6-9 additional credit hours in communications, a new business course, etc.. I feel that this would largely not be a productive use of my time if I could obtain a cert or associates elsewhere without taking additional courses ideally. 

I have looked at the Board of Governors degree from Pierpoint and it requires that I have not obtained a bachelors degree already. 

Does anyone know of any certificate or associate degrees that accept a lot of transferred in business or accounting courses? The particular type of degree does not necessarily need to be in business or accounting, just a degree from an accredited institution. 

Thank you,
TDS

[ss20ts]

It might be easier to complete a master's degree then to try to make those credits work somewhere.

[FastTrackDegree]

WGU has a Competency-Based MS in Accounting, might go faster for you since you already have taken a bunch of accounting classes.

https://www.wgu.edu/online-business-degr...ogram.html

[bjcheung77]

There are so many avenues you can go as per your info, associates, bachelors, cert or a master's degree. It's going to be hard to recommend you something without a bit more detail on your budget, commitments, situation, study/style of learning, etc.  

I usually ask people to fill in the template and last post addendum with much more details, so we can get a clear picture. Your "order" has been requested but not yet complete...waiting on you to provide updated info. Link: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Area-works

[cerich67]

Greetings, 

I am new to the forum looking to obtain a second degree. I would gladly accept any knowledge or advice from this niche forum. 
I currently have a BS Business Administration (awarded in 2013) No Associates degrees, No certificate degrees
19 additional credit hours in accounting courses after the Business Admin Degree

In particular, I am wanting to qualify for the federal recent graduate pathway program which requires that I have obtained a degree within the past two years which I have not as of now - it was 9 years previously. 

• Recent graduates who have completed, within the previous two years, a qualifying associates, bachelors, masters, professional, doctorate, vocational or technical degree or certificate from a qualifying educational institution.
  

The college that I have taken my 19 additional credit hours of accounting at does not offer a certificate in accounting. To obtain a certificate in business or an associates, I would be required to take 6-9 additional credit hours in communications, a new business course, etc.. I feel that this would largely not be a productive use of my time if I could obtain a cert or associates elsewhere without taking additional courses ideally. 

I have looked at the Board of Governors degree from Pierpoint and it requires that I have not obtained a bachelors degree already. 

Does anyone know of any certificate or associate degrees that accept a lot of transferred in business or accounting courses? The particular type of degree does not necessarily need to be in business or accounting, just a degree from an accredited institution. 

Thank you,
TDS

If you think you could do in one term, do a WGU MBA then do the pathway, you'll get better salary and positions with the MBA anyhow

[rachel83az]

TESU has an accounting certificate that could work. https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...cate_Plans

But, as others have pointed out, it would probably be more cost effective for you to get an MBA or other Master's degree.

[dfrecore]

I don't understand why you would do this pathway thing when you could probably just get a job instead? It doesn't make a ton of sense to me, that someone with a Bachelor's in business couldn't find work in the federal government.

[davewill]

Did you attend a community college before transferring to get your bachelor's? If so, you might be able to transfer your existing credits back to the CC and get an Associate's awarded.

[freeloader]

I don't understand why you would do this pathway thing when you could probably just get a job instead?  It doesn't make a ton of sense to me, that someone with a Bachelor's in business couldn't find work in the federal government.

OP mentioned accounting, but didn’t specifically say they wanted an accounting job, but that is the work I am most familiar with. Most of the accountant, auditor, and revenue agent jobs (job series 0510, 0511, and 0512) seem to be pretty hard to get.  Because of federal hiring requirements, federal HR typically has to consider internal candidates, veterans, other federal employees, and other hiring classes before they can hire somebody off the streets. I am active on some spaces elsewhere (other message boards, Reddit, etc) and it seems to be fairly common for people to submit 100+ applications before they get hired. Many people give up before then.  And relocating for a job is often a requirement. 

Qualifying as a recent college graduate seems to be the single best thing that most people can do to increase their likelihood of getting hired in these series. Not to say the only thing, of course. These jobs tend to max out at an automatic GS-11 to GS-13 with the ability to complete for a higher grade or two. 

There are other accounting/finance related jobs in other series that are classed as technicians. The problem is that these typically max out in the GS-6 or 7 range. For somebody making high five figures or six figure in accounting or finance, this could easily mean a 50% pay cut in the hopes that they could move into a 0510-0512 job, which is, of course, not a certainty and could take years. There are other things (work for TSA, federal prison guard, seasonal work with IRS, VA or Social Security telephone based work, etc) that can get you into government service, but, again, they are often big steps down financially and certainly don’t guarantee you an accountant/auditor/agent job.

I am in a job in one of those job series. I worked a really crappy Fed job, then a less crappy Fed job before finally getting the job that I really wanted. I was super lucky. I only put in maybe 2 dozen applications for 0510-0512 jobs. I ended up getting hired for a job within my agency. That said, at least half of the jobs that I applied to were outside my agency. I met the educational and experience requirements and was a tenured federal employee. I wasn’t referred for ANY of the jobs (meaning I wasn’t reviewed for consideration for an interview) outside of my agency. 

The long and short of it, OP is very wise to try to qualify for recent college grad/pathways programs. I work with a guy who literally tried applying for federal jobs for 20 years and didn’t get anywhere. He is a CPA, worked in a Big 4 accounting firm, worked as a state auditor, and as a Fed government contractor. Did an MTax (online through an NA school, no less) and got a job offer as a recent grad within a few months of finish his degree.

I have read very similar things about other job series that interest me (contracting, paralegal, etc).

[BrianFallon]

I don't understand why you would do this pathway thing when you could probably just get a job instead?  It doesn't make a ton of sense to me, that someone with a Bachelor's in business couldn't find work in the federal government.

OP mentioned accounting, but didn’t specifically say they wanted an accounting job, but that is the work I am most familiar with. Most of the accountant, auditor, and revenue agent jobs (job series 0510, 0511, and 0512) seem to be pretty hard to get.  Because of federal hiring requirements, federal HR typically has to consider internal candidates, veterans, other federal employees, and other hiring classes before they can hire somebody off the streets. I am active on some spaces elsewhere (other message boards, Reddit, etc) and it seems to be fairly common for people to submit 100+ applications before they get hired. Many people give up before then.  And relocating for a job is often a requirement. 

Qualifying as a recent college graduate seems to be the single best thing that most people can do to increase their likelihood of getting hired in these series. Not to say the only thing, of course. These jobs tend to max out at an automatic GS-11 to GS-13 with the ability to complete for a higher grade or two. 

There are other accounting/finance related jobs in other series that are classed as technicians. The problem is that these typically max out in the GS-6 or 7 range. For somebody making high five figures or six figure in accounting or finance, this could easily mean a 50% pay cut in the hopes that they could move into a 0510-0512 job, which is, of course, not a certainty and could take years. There are other things (work for TSA, federal prison guard, seasonal work with IRS, VA or Social Security telephone based work, etc) that can get you into government service, but, again, they are often big steps down financially and certainly don’t guarantee you an accountant/auditor/agent job.

I am in a job in one of those job series. I worked a really crappy Fed job, then a less crappy Fed job before finally getting the job that I really wanted. I was super lucky. I only put in maybe 2 dozen applications for 0510-0512 jobs. I ended up getting hired for a job within my agency. That said, at least half of the jobs that I applied to were outside my agency. I met the educational and experience requirements and was a tenured federal employee. I wasn’t referred for ANY of the jobs (meaning I wasn’t reviewed for consideration for an interview) outside of my agency. 

The long and short of it, OP is very wise to try to qualify for recent college grad/pathways programs. I work with a guy who literally tried applying for federal jobs for 20 years and didn’t get anywhere. He is a CPA, worked in a Big 4 accounting firm, worked as a state auditor, and as a Fed government contractor. Did an MTax (online through an NA school, no less) and got a job offer as a recent grad within a few months of finish his degree.

I have read very similar things about other job series that interest me (contracting, paralegal, etc).

I concur with everything you wrote about federal hiring.  I held one of those job series you mentioned.  At the time that I made the move into that series, I actually applied for the lowest grade possible - other internals wanted to keep their grade.  When I transferred into a professional career at IRS, I went down one grade but I had pay retention.  I then went thru the regular promotions to reach my working level.

The strategy was recommended by my then mentor, who was a manager in the job series I wanted to work in.  The other internals were competing at the higher grade.  I ended up BQing for all three posted grades and interviewed with the other candidates but as I was the only BQ at the lowest posted grade, I got the ONE opening.  

Uncle Sam has too many rules and it's important to get the advantage.

It seems odd to take a step back to go forward, but if the OP has a path to the job series they want to work in - and the program states a degree within 2 years - go for it.