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 that there are legitimate work-from-home jobs out there and other ways 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. Places like Elance and Odesk have thousands of writing positions available if freelance writing is your thing. I 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 High paying jobs that you can get without a degree
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. It is important to note that some of these jobs DO require some kind of a degree, just not a 4-year degree. As many have commented below many of the jobs do require formal training of some kind or even a two-year degree.
I thought it was particularly interesting to see that Air Traffic Controllers topped the list at $100K/yr. Who knew? A couple of the other interesting jobs were…
- Funeral Director (about $80K)
- Real estate broker: (about $58K)
- Dental hygienist (about $60K)
- Detective and criminal investigator (about $54K)
- Commercial pilot (about $54K)
Click To read the rest of the 25 top paying jobs without a college degree.
One of the things that struck me a little was that the author said there were more than 50 million jobs available that pay over $40,000 a year and DON’T require a 4-year degree! As a college grad who went to college mostly so that I could make more than $40K/yr I am pretty blown away by that statistic.
The biggest thing I learned from reading this article is that just like most things in life, there are always alternate routes. If you have the mindset that you can only get a good job if you have a college degree, then that is all you are likely to find. But if you desperately look for opportunites that don’t require a degree, then you are going to be a lot more likely to stumble upon one.
“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.”
The truth is that the world is changing – and fast. Finding a job/career like our parents (with security, pensions, etc) just probably isn’t going to happen. The best way we can handle it is to stay up to speed with what is going on in the world around us and get educated. I don’t necessarily mean a college degree, but learning is always going to be beneficial. Whether it is learning how to be a better _______ (insert job here), improve your time management skills, or improve your interviewing skills, learning will always be beneficial.
By the way, if you are doing a job search, here are some job sites to help you find one. Or if you are looking to work from home, here are some legit companies that will allow you to do that.
