Can you get a good paying job without a degree?
After recently writing about the debate of whether a college degree was still worth it or not, I have been doing a little bit more research on the topic. I found out about the growing FauxPloma industry and I recently stumbled on an article that talks about the top paying 25 jobs that you can get without a degree.In the article, the author makes a couple encouraging statements for those without a college degree…
The belief that you need a college education to have a well-paying and rewarding job is quickly fading. A four-year degree definitely has its benefits in the business world, but it’s not the only path to a successful career.
and…
“…according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), eight of the 10 fastest-growing occupations through 2014 don’t require a bachelor’s degree. And these jobs, which include health technology, plumbing, firefighting and automotive repair, are less vulnerable to outsourcing. After all, if a fire breaks out, you need the fire department to be a few blocks away, not halfway around the world.”
As I mentioned in the previous posts I wrote about college degrees, regardless of whether or not you get a college degree, you have to be a learner. Success comes from learning. If you don’t have a college degree, but you are a lifelong learner devoted to developing yourself and learning new and relevant skills you will be successful. If you are under the assumption (that I was at an earlier point in my life) that you can get a degree, quit learning and coast through life, you are likely to be disappointed.
The mind of the prudent acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.
Proverbs 18:15
Do you really need a job?
The last couple years have taught me just how many opportunities there are today to make money online. After getting laid off a couple years ago I started to step up my efforts to make money blogging and now I am a full-time blogger and couldn’t love my job more!
Starting a business isn’t for everyone, but even a small-side business can be a great supplemental income source. A wrote a step-by-step guide to starting an Ebay business as well as a guide to making money writing articles for Hubpages – both can be small side-businesses that can generate some extra cash if your day job just isn’t cutting it – and best of all – they don’t require a college degree!
25 top paying jobs that you can get without a degree
Here are 25 of the top-paying jobs that don’t require a four-year degree and their average salaries, based on data from the BLS and CBSalary.com.
1. Air traffic controller: $102,030
2. Funeral director: $79,517
3. Operations manager: $77,839
4. Industrial production manager: $73,000
5. Transportation manager: $72,662
6. Storage and distribution manager: $69,898
7. Computer technical support specialist: $67,689
8. Gaming manager: $64,880
9. First-line supervisor/manager of police and detective: $64,430
10. Nuclear power reactor operator: $64,090
11. Computer specialist: $59,480
12. First-line, non-retail supervisors/manager: $59,300
13. Nuclear technician: $59,200
14. First-line supervisor/manager of fire fighting and prevention worker: $58,920
15. Real estate broker: $58,720 – (Take an online course to get your Real Estate license
)
16. Elevator installer and repairer: $58,710
17. Sales representative, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products: $58,580
18. Dental hygienist: $59,790
19. Radiation therapist: $57,700
20. Nuclear medicine technologist: $56,450
21. Power plant distributor and dispatcher: $57,330
22. Fashion designer: $55,840
23. Ship engineer: $54,950
24. Detective and criminal investigator: $53,990
25. Commercial pilot: $53,870
The author then goes on to make a couple more points worth mentioning…
“The thing to keep in mind is that there are something like 50 million jobs out there that don’t require a bachelor’s degree and pay upwards of $40,000 a year,” says Harlow Unger, author of “But What If I Don’t Want to Go to College? A Guide to Success Through Alternative Education.”
He goes on to say that according to the U.S. Department of Labor, by 2010, almost two-thirds of all projected job openings will require only on-the-job training
So while a college degree was de rigueur for the Baby Boom generation, that’s not necessarily the case now. In today’s highly technical and service-related market, workers are judged more on their skills than their sheepskins.”
{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }
i may try the funeral job. My current career seems to be at a dead end.
I can kinda see what the author means. But the real question is “will the US education system be good enough to support those jobs that need on the job training?” Education is this country to getting pretty bad and college almost acts like a buffer to make sure they are ready for the real world. If the high schools across this country improve i really can see on the job training besides going to college.
Brian,
good question – it is amazing to me how we as a country are veering from all the things that made it a great one in the first place…
Interesting post. I have to admit that I am surprised to see a few of these jobs on this list, I would have thought some of them required a degree. I do whole heartedly believe, however, that everyone who has the means to go to university, should do so. Regardless of whether you then go on to use that degree in any way, attending university teaches you to think in ways that you might never discover otherwise, and encourages original research and exposes students to so many different schools of thought and differences in opinion. I don’t think you can put a price on that. I also think that if you go straight into a profession without a degree, your options may be restricted later on, if you want to make a career change. Here in the UK, having a degree is certainly still the most desirable thing to see on someone’s CV, and is a prerequiste if you want to work in a non-technical industry.
I like the list but I find “#11. Computer specialist: $59,480″ a little vague. True, but vague nonetheless. I think we’re ALL specialists in some aspect of computer-ization these days!
Interesting list indeed though…
I can back up real estate broker/ estate agent (uk) there is a lot of money to be made if you are good.
I believe computer specialist is someone who has vast knowledge of computers from networking, system administration and hardware.
ARE YOU KIDDING? I am a pilot. More than a few of these ‘no degree’ jobs you state are miss leading. The common person needs to know:
there is a LOT of money dropped to get a couple of these jobs. On the education it takes, and a good mind to go with it. Not to mention the psych stuff has to be checked out too. Dream on people. The “degree” !! Is still there and payed for.
Please tell me the average pay salary for an EMT. Also, what is a Computer Tech exactly?
Are you kidding…..some of these jobs reguire some kind of college; and some difficult college…. dental hygienist….not easy!
Hedge fund manager, save some money from working at McD’s, learn how to trade, generate a track record, start a fund, and make millions per year. There are hedge fund managers making HUNDREDS of millions per year literally without even a high school diploma, and the income potential is truly unlimited, the best of both worlds.
In general, you can be a ceo without a college degree too. Start your own business is another great high paying thing to do with no degree.
how funny #18 is Dental Hygienist…and in order anyone to practice in this field in any state must obtain a college degree and past not only a written national exam, but a clinical exam, ( just like a dentist )…so should it be on this list…i think now
Was that funeral job a joke? Cuz that was pretty good… Haha jobs at a dead end…
NO!!! NO!!! NO!!! I do not believe a word of it I have worked in manufacturing for years and learned everything about the jobs I had. Then watch the people that knew nothing run the company’s into the ground. I am 36 and went back to school to get a degree in software engineer. I got sick of the ones with degrees think they were smarter then me.Worst yet taking an idea I had and calling it theirs then getting large bonuses for my ideas. All the time calling me a liar for fighting them for my idea. No I say a degree so you can walk away from an injustice without putting your family into any trouble with money!
All I can say is that I don’t have a degree of any kind. I am a store manager for a check cashing service and I get paid about 70k a year. NO DEGREE!!! I think that the jobs are out there we just need to look and learn when we do find something. I make more than teachers, police, and quite a few others with no degree. I always tell my kids it’s really important for them to get an education because I really believe that! It is important for many reasons but not to be a top earner! Good luck everyone!
all of you’ve said are i think needs a college degree except for the plumber…and am pretty sure it was applicable only in europe,k.s.a. and usa; and not in third world countries like the philippines that even a janitor must have a four years course in tertiary before it will accepted on that job…..
I dont know where the author got the information that a computer support specialist does not require a degree, because I went to college for computer systems and any kind of work in the IT field requires a college degree and some of the certifications come in handy depending on what type of work you are doing. You must have good knowledge of servers, networking systems, etc. Someone with no training could not do this work or deal with its daily stress, especially when a lot of responsibility is riding on your back.
People like to write a bunch a crap and haven’t done the job for one day…
there’s a lot money in garbage
i want to know what type of job that to suite me with you people.
i am doctor graduate frtom very good college, but some people is behind me in the feild of the job so i can t find good seat for me in my country . i can travell and work any job that suite me because i want to support my self.
please e-mail a copy to me.
Julianne, the author is correct. A degree is not required to be a computer support specialist, however I agree that most people wouldn’t be able to succeed in IT without at least some college, or at least IT training. I work in IT even though I have an associates degree in a completely different field. Many of my coworkers are highly motivated and intelligent individuals without a college degree and they do very well. You have to remember that there are quite a few people in the world who posses very high intelligence, good work ethic, and self-motivation who did not attend college for four years.
That is true about not needing a degree for the Nuclear Operators and Technicians. But I think the payscale is wrong. I am a insturmentation tech at a nuclear power plant and by the time I reach max pay I will be making 75,000. That will be in 3 more years. The operators make about 90,000 at the plant. That does not include all the overtime with refuelings. After all the overtime 100,000 a year is very achievable.
I think the best job that does not need a college degree is a hotel sales or catering manager. I earned an entry level salary of 45 thousand and bonus and made more than 77 thousand after just two years.
I plan to get to the Director of Sales Positon (no degree required) in about 2 more years and should earn 100 thousand or more plus bonus…..now that’s a good salary without a college degree. I was gong to a marketing class at a JC but found an easier way to get a start with a on-line certificate from aprinda.com
The aprinda.com was on-line and only took me about 20 hours to complete.
I would think hotel sales jobs should rank right up in the top two jobs for those people that don’t have a degree.
Anyone know how to get into air traffic control?
You missed yacht crew. Positions vary, but captains can make well into six figures, chef/cooks can make close to six figures, and chief stewardesses/ first mates can make up to 60-80 k. American stewardesses are in particularly high demand.
Computer specialist is quite misleading indeed. I am what some people would call a computer specialist and at the end of the day, you will pay for a college degree by the time you obtain all of the certifications necessary to keep your career afloat. I have a Masters in Information Technology and that didn’t stop me from being laid off. During an economic downturn like the one we’re facing now, a degree is a hindrance to getting just any old job because they think you are going to try to get paid more than they are offering. Because technology and computers change so often, education is an ONGOING effort. There will always be something new to learn and if you are not working for a company that will pay for that education, you will be hemoraging money left and right for the certifications. I am looking to change careers because you really don’t get paid that much to keep spending $5,000 here and there for certification courses.
FYI: Unless things have changed since 1995, you do not need a degree to become a dental hygenist. But this entire post is misleading. Although you may not need a degree you do have to be certified for most of these jobs. If you don’t go to college for a degree you still need to take some sort of classes. Which are usually accelerated, overpriced vocational courses and you usually pay out of pocket. Even if you do qualify for some sort of aid it won’t cover everything because the classes are usually so expensive. So you still come out of pocket. You only come out with a ‘certificate’ of completion for that particular job or take a test to become certified in that field. And if you leave that job field, what can that certificate do for you except look good on a resume. And while you may not need a degree, most employers I know require at least an associates degree, in any field, before they will consider hiring you for any job. I’d rather go to college but, different strokes for different folks.
I agree with all the people who say this list is misleading. Some of these jobs require associate’s degrees and associates are degrees as well. And for the record, many dental hygienists have bachelors degrees.
Well, I worked in IT for 11 years in Canada with only a 2 year technical college programmer certificate… That was until 2002 when dot com collapsed. Trying to find work again was near impossible, because with all that and the huge influx of programmers in I.T from other countries — They began more and more to ask for university degrees. I have worked with others who where self taught programmers, making the same salary. I agree that some health field or regularte fields should require degrees for obvious reasons, but I also think that many employers today for fields like I.T, sales, marketing etc… should rely more on the persons ability to learn and aptitude, then a university degree…But we all know how today they dont look/scan past the resume text, and that is an issue all in itself!
Money is the wrong reason to go after any career. I deliver gasoline for a living and make btwn 60 and 80k and I work a really odd shift that compromises time with family and quality of life. Before anyone looks into any of these high paying , no degree needing fields, do your research and find out what’s required of you first. The need to earn money will always exist whether you earn a degree or not. Be certain that you and your loved ones can live with the conditions of the career path you choose. P.S., I do not have a college degree.