Many people think a university degree is the only way to succeed, but that isn’t today’s reality. Check out this list of jobs that don’t require a degree.
No degree? No problem. It’s been a long time coming but the world is slowly moving away from the whole “You won’t be anything if you don’t go to university” mentality it’s been shoving down our throats for decades now. That’s not to say that there is no value in a university degree. They can be super useful for all kinds of careers and professions, from doctors and lawyers to engineers, philosophers and, of course, university professors. But the current way of thinking has resulted in an array of issues impacting the economic and employment landscapes, and people’s livelihoods and career prospects.
One of these issues is the devaluation of the university degree itself – a bachelor’s is now worth next to nothing, because everyone has one, meaning people are forced to go after ever higher degrees, racking up insane amounts of debt and drawing out their school years will into adulthood. It’s a racket and it makes no sense.
Another problem is the lack of people willing to go into skilled trades while the trades are desperate for people to fill jobs. But nobody wants to go into the trades because they have a reputation for being lowbrow or beneath people.
Fortunately, the advent of self-teaching and free online courses is changing the way we value education. You can learn so many things from home now, lots of it with guided learning from excellent professionals. Some if it costs money, but it isn’t going to put you in debt for life.
Some recent studies suggest that your education really isn’t that important to employers, and increasing numbers of professions and companies no longer require a degree. Sure, a lot of job descriptions still usually state that one is required, but I predict that will soon change. Just wait and see.
Meanwhile, LinkedIn has just released a the most in-demand roles in the global economy for 2020, all of which are accessible for people without a college degree. The jobs on the list were found to have seen steady growth over the past four years, with no significant drops in hiring during that period. According to CNBC, they also “paid a salary in line with or above the living wage.” But keep in mind that that statement is useless without them stating which “living wage” they’re referring to, since there is no global standard or even a standard for the whole of US, which is where the report came from. Still, salary comparisons can be found fairly easily online and most of these jobs probably do have the capability to earn you a pretty good living. Rather than use CNBC’s salary data we sourced Canadian data from Payscale and, honestly, some of them seem weirdly low. Digital marketers, for example, do not cap out at $65,000 a year. I know that for a fact. So, take these salaries with a grain of salt and do your own research.
Here are those jobs, with Canadian salaries sourced by us.
Below that list is another list of more jobs you can get without a degree that pay quite well.
The truth is that all kinds of companies no longer require a degree that these lists aren’t actually representative of all the jobs you can get. Look around and, again, do your research.
The top 10 most in-demand jobs that don’t require a degree, according to Linkedin
Software Developer
$48,000 – $88,000
Sales Representative$
30,000 – $76,000
Project Manager
$50,000 – $106,000
IT Administrator
$43,000 – $80,000
Customer Service Specialist
$35,000 – $57,000
Digital Marketer
$39,000 – $65,000
IT Support/Help Desk
$33,000 – $56,000
Data Analyst
$41,000 – $76,000
Financial Analyst
$43,000 – $77,000
Graphic Designer
$41,000 – $58,000
More jobs that don’t require a degree and that pay well
Accounts Manager
Salary range: $37,000 – $83,000
Nuclear reactor operator
Salary range: $41,879 – $206,605
Automotive service technician/mechanic
Salary range: $26,532 – $71,119
Electrician
3$6,630 – $85,780
Construction manager
Salary range: $55,164 – $162,078
Court reporter
Salary range: $42,484 – $77,068
Firefighter
Salary range: $38,388 – $100,688
Plumber
Salary range: $33,308 – $86,932
Realtor
Salary range: $25,434 – $178,000
Web developer
Salary range: $32,700 – $75,114
Air traffic controller
Salary range: $47,344 – $169,911
Land surveyor
Salary range: $38,075 – $108,568
Transit driver
Salary range: $31,968 – $72,264