You don’t need a college degree to get a high-paying job, check out this list of no-education required jobs
How do you get the highest paying jobs that don’t require a college degree? Do those kinds of opportunities even exist? Does getting a high-paying job mean you have to go into tens of thousands in student loan debt?
By the end of this video, you’ll know exactly where to find these jobs, how much you’ll make and the top 10 high paying jobs with little or no education requirement.
I’m also revealing the three secrets that will get you any job you want so make sure you watch the end of the video or scroll to the end of the article.
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Is Debt the Price of a High-Paying Job?
Student loan debt is out of control. We just heard from the Fed that Americans owe almost $1.6 trillion in student loans, a little over $37,000 is the average amount of debt.
And there’s no reason for it. I’m not saying college isn’t a good idea or can’t lead to some great opportunities but the fact is, there has never been a time to get a high paying job without a college degree. More than two-in-three jobs out there require only a high school education and some of them pay more than you expect.
That’s why I wanted to do this video, researching the best high paying jobs that don’t require a college degree. I’m going to start out showing you a great tool by the department of labor to find these jobs then I’ll reveal the 10 best no degree required jobs.
After that, I’ll show you three secrets to get any job you want so stick around to the end of the video because these are going to work on any job, at any interview.
How to Find High-Paying Jobs with No Degree Required
I spent five years as a labor economist for the State of Iowa so looking at these jobs, analyzing growth in different fields and the high paying jobs that would grow a state economy, that’s what I did.
I want to show you how to find your next job, one with no degree required and that pays $50,000 a year or more.
If you want to look at some of the data we’ll be talking about, the Department of Labor has some great resources. First here is going to be the Occupational Outlook Handbook at bls.gov/ooh. This is going to show you education requirements, salary, job growth and lots of detail about each job.
Watch the video or click through to the YouTube channel for a video step-by-step of these jobs tools.
Next is the Employment Projects tool, and this is what we’ll be using first to find the 10 high paying jobs with no degree requirements. You go here to bls.gov/projections and click on the Occupational Projections Data.
You can use each of these filters to change your search so first we’ll click on this Typical entry-level education and click on each of these up to Associate’s Degree, that’s a two year degree offered at a community college.
You can check any of these boxes you like including jobs requiring an associate degree or those with no educational requirement. When we look at the 10 highest paying jobs below, I’m going to include a mix of jobs that require only a high school education and a few that require a two-year degree.
We’ll also come over hear and show the wage information to find jobs with a minimum of $45,000 a year or higher.
Finally, I’m going to use this Employment Change box to put in 5 here.
This is the percentage job growth expected over the decade to 2026. That’s going to filter our job search for only those jobs where employment is growing.
This is important but not something a lot of people think about when they’re looking at jobs. The problem is they spend all this time in a career only to find out that it’s a dying job.
For example, Milling and Machine Setters, pays a solid $43,000 a year and there are no educational requirements. The problem is, we’re losing jobs every year. It’s expected 3,400 of these jobs will be gone over the next decade. That’s almost 20% of the people working in those jobs right now.
I’m also limiting the search to high paying jobs that make more than the average for an entry level job with just a high school education. I want to give you the jobs that are going to support your family, not have you living from paycheck to paycheck.
Once you’ve got all these filtered, click submit to find the jobs. You can sort the list by any of these columns. We’ll sort them by annual wages to find the ones with the highest pay and you can look to see education requirements and other data.
You can play around with the list but I wanted to highlight the 10 highest paying jobs I found that don’t require a college degree and have some great growth prospects ahead of them. We’ll start out with the lowest paying and work our way to the top.
Top 10 Best Jobs with No Degree Requirement
Number 10 on our countdown of high paying jobs no education required is Security and Fire alarm system installers paying an average of $47,000 a year. That’s really good for a job that requires no more than a high school diploma and some in the field are making nearly $70,000 a year.
You might need some certificate training or on-the-job training here but it’s a great job to get into. Employment for alarm installers is growing at 14% a year which is three times the average job growth so there will always be jobs waiting.
Number 9 on our high paying jobs countdown is brokerage clerks with an average salary of almost $53,000 a year and some making over $76,000. Now I have to admit, when I was working as an analyst, we weren’t always so nice to the clerks.
It can be an intense, high-pressure work environment but it’s a great way to get into investments and work your way up into other roles. You need to know how to use an Excel spreadsheet to enter stock purchase transactions, track information for brokers and record-keeping but it will all be training on the job. This is another one growing fast and a great annual salary that only requires a high school diploma.
Number 8 on our list of high paying jobs with little or no education requirements is flight attendant and an average salary of almost $53,000 a year. And I want to say I was surprised at how much flight attendants make but then I thought of all the crap they have to put up with from flyers and it kinda makes sense.
There’s a little more training that goes into this one but it’s all on-the-job and employment is growing 10% a year, twice the average.
Number 7 in our jobs countdown is paralegals and legal assistants making an average of $54,000 a year up to over $81,000 on something that only requires a two-year associates degree.
Now here we’re starting to get into the jobs that are going to take a little more education but there are still a few that don’t require a two-year degree.
Paralegals support lawyers with research into legal cases, preparing legal documents and even help with putting together a case. Look, we’re a sue-you, sue-me society and this job is booming with 15% growth every year.
Job Number 6 on our countdown of high paying jobs is a special one for me, my first professional job while in college was as a commercial real estate agent and these people can make a lot more than the average $59,000 you see here.
The best part about being an agent or broker is that there’s almost no education requirement. In most states, you sit for a week long class and take a licensing exam and that’s it.
That doesn’t necessarily mean the job is easy but with a little drive and motivation, you’re making a lot of money and there are always job openings.
Half way through our list of high paying job with no degree required and number five is power-line installers making an average of $69,000 a year. This was always a hot job when I worked as an economist.
You’ll need some electrician skills and training but there is no formal education like an associates degree. Most of these jobs are through an apprenticeship with a union or other licensing group.
Number four on our countdown is probably my favorite, licensed practical nurses or registered nurses. I studied employment in the healthcare field and can tell you this is where the growth is. Nurses make an average of $73,000 a year and much higher when you factor in night-pay and other factors.
There is a huge shortage of nurses in America and we’re expected to need over 438,000 more in the next ten years. That’s almost a half million job openings waiting and the shortage is just going to keep pushing wages higher. Education for an LPN is a one-year program while RNs require a two-year course but that’s one of the shortest education requirements I’ve seen for such a great career.
Just three left in our countdown and Number three here is web developers making an average of $74,000 with some making well over $122,000 a year. Now this is one of those new world jobs so the requirements say an associate’s degree but I’ve met developers with just a certificate program.
If you’re looking for a corporate job at a web development company or something like that, you’d probably need the two-year degree but otherwise just the certificate program. Employment growth for developers is 15% a year, three times the average for all jobs and 24,000 new jobs are expected to be added in the next decade.
Second to last in our countdown of highest paying jobs is dental hygienist paying almost $75,000 on average. Here’s another one where you’ll need that two-year degree but I’d say that’s a small price to pay for a job that makes about forty-grand over the average annual salary.
Like a lot of the health care jobs, this one is growing fast with 20% annual job growth. The department of labor is expecting we’ll need 41,000 more dental hygienists over the next ten years so there’s going to be a lot of opportunity there.
Finally the top job before we get to those three secrets to get any job is a radiation therapist making $85,000 on average and requiring just that two-year degree.
You’re working closely with patients on this one so it’s a lot like a nurse where you’re reviewing prescriptions and treating people when it comes to their radiation therapy. We’re expecting 13% annual employment growth here so thousands of new jobs every single year.
Take a look at that jobs screener and some of these high paying jobs with no education required because these are some great opportunities. Any one of these has a strong future and pays way over what most jobs do, even some that require a college degree.
3 Secrets to Get Any Job You Want
Now I want to reveal those three secrets to getting any job you want. Let’s be real here, you have to be at least remotely qualified for the job, but if you’re going after one of these no degree required jobs then there’s no reason you can’t get it.
First is to find out as much as you can about the job. That means more than just looking at the job description posted but looking at the occupational handbook on the BLS site and reading up on it.
This is going to make it so you can ask the smart questions at the interview. It’s going to make you look like you know exactly what the job needs, like you’re excited for the job.
Next is to dress appropriately and be early for the interview. I’m amazed I have to say this but don’t wear shorts or jeans to a job interview. Even if you’d wear casual clothes on the job, at least put on a pair of khakis and a button-down shirt.
You’ll lose no points for over-dressing but under-dressing or looking sloppy will lose you the job.
Also, we had a saying in the Marine Corps. If you’re on time then you’re already five minutes late.
Now you don’t have to be quite as strict as this but plan on getting there early, just in case something goes wrong and you’re later than expected.
Finally here is to try connecting with someone that works at the company and ask them what they like about it. You can do this with a LinkedIn profile and send out a few messages to get their feedback.
It might feel a little weird at first but just like that first tip, this is going to give you the information to ask the smart questions. You’re trying to show that not only are you excited about the job but also about working for that specific company so you want to know more about it than you might find on the company’s website.
These three tips will get you at least through that first interview and that’s usually all it takes for these no education required jobs. Check out the list of high paying jobs and start learning what you need to do today.