Highest Paying Jobs, No Degree

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Posted on by Forest in General, Opinion, Saving Money & Finances

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There used to be a way in America that without an undergrad degree the chances of you getting a good job was slim. You need to go to university to be anyone! Well things have changed…. These days you need to have a Masters Degree to get a decent job! That is the way it seems anyway.

The university system is massively linked to the job market and it feels like University gets people into debt and then people have no choice to take drone jobs for faceless corporations to pay off huge debts incurred by education. I don’t like this cycle and really think it curbs creativity, creates stress and a terrible drone cycle. I know it sounds a little like a conspiracy and although I don’t know if this cycle was purposely made, it does exist!

Now what if you don’t go to uni, what are your chances of getting a high paying job? Well I think the chances are getting higher. Things like the internet and a change from industrial jobs (being shipped to other countries) to more creative jobs means that gaps are opening up in the market and passion and skill may be enough.

What are the highest paying jobs, no degree needed?

I never went to University but in England I think it’s a little easier to do so. I worked my way up from about $20k a year (at age 17) to almost $70k a year (at age 24) working in the graphic design field. I know this would be a struggle in USA as even entry jobs require a degree even if you have a decent portfolio.

In USA though there are lots of options, they are just not so obvious. This list of the top 15 highest paying job requiring no degree (with average yearly salary) was taken from this AOL Article. They list 25 in total.

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

The list is pretty vague in some areas but it shows a wide range of employment available if you want to skip the norm and just go for it. I don’t think everyone should be pressured to go to school and you can always go back later. I’ll probably do a degree during retirement, who knows!

Working in real estate may not be much of an option these days but definitely working in air travel or with computers are great options. I know a blogger who has a completely unrelated degree to what she blogs about and she earns around $50k a month from working online (no lie!).

If you want to break out of the norm, do it. Don’t let anyone tell you what you have to do. There is always opportunity for the willing!

What do you think, is a degree essential in this day and age?

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Tags: High Paying Jobs No Degree, high paying work no education, Highest Paying Careers, no college degree, skipping college, working no degree, working without a degree