Best Jobs That Don’t Require a College Degree

Not everyone is able to go to college–either because of financial issues, or perhaps they simply are not the “college type”.

While that might cause some people to be frustrated about career options, the truth is that there are many career fields where college is not necessary. And many of them are lucrative.

Dental Hygienist

Most of the jobs in a dental office do not require a college degree–but a Dental Hygienist makes the most money. Whereas a dental receptionist, office manager, or dental assistant are all people who don’t need a college degree, none of them make as much money as a dental Hygienist.

You might be surprised that the person cleaning your teeth makes close to 90k. While a dental assistant or receptionist might make a little more than minimum wage, the truth is that a hygienist makes much more (this article from a trade magazine geared towards hygienists shows the average salary at 80k+, in many large cities the salary can hit 100k (NYC, Boston, and LA).

Why, you might ask, do dental hygienists make so much money? Well, the answer is dental insurance and billing. Simply put, when you visit the dentist and they have you get a cleaning from their hygienist–they can bill your insurance company quite a lot of money. If you have to pay out of pocket, then you’ll know the pain.

A dental assistant can’t perform this medical service, so the dentist doesn’t make any money off of them. A hygienist is the only one besides the dentist who can do that.

Property Management / Superintendent

Real Estate is one of the few areas where most people don’t have a college degree. With the exception of corporate firms that invest in Real Estate (think Private Equity, or commercial real estate investing firms) the majority of people working in the field are high school graduates who went straight to work.

Property Management might sound like an intimidating role, but in reality this is a day to day, blue collar role. Most of the work involves maintenance–things like responding to tenant issues such as leaks and heating problems, an minor things such as making sure trash is picked up.

A typical career path for someone who wants to work in property management is as follows:

• Get certified by a city endorsed program (many non-profits offer these, sometimes they offer these to low income, ex-offenders, or people exiting drug programs). These certifications include things like OSHA certicications and basic pluming and maintence courses.
• Find a job as a Porter, Handyman Assistant, or other role within a propert managmet company. Then, apply through the proper channels (if it is a union role, you might have to wait x number of years and then be promoted to superintendent).

The upside to these jobs is that there is no educational requirement. Many people who come from forigen countries and only obtain a GED or a city run degree, can quickly find a job working in property management.

Some Non-Profits such as the Fortune Society, work with ex-offenders and people leaving jail to get work.

The downside is that the work can be unpleasant, but if you are lucky enough to find work in a Union, then you will have guaranteed work and pay raises. Most importantly, if you are working through a labor union then you do not have to negotiate pay raises, the union handles all of that for you.

Many jobs in property management are found through friends and family. If the job is in a union, it’s even more common for relatives to only alert their friends and family of an opening. So it helps to network into these jobs.

Real Estate Agent

When you hear that someone is working as a Real Estate agent, odds are that they have a second job. The success rate for a working real estate agent is incredibly low. Some estimates online in forums and blogs devoted to working R.E. agents esitmate that 80-90 % of agents are not able to support themselves full time without another source of income.

Part of this lies in the fact that anyone can call themselves a real estate agent, and there is virtually no barrier to entry.

There are huge upsides when it comes to working as a R.E. agent–anyone who has watched a reality show covering real estate knows this. However, this is the rate case, and not the norm. There’s even a lot of talk that the reality shows are fake, or scripted to some degree–or at least manipulated.

Most people who work in Real Estate as agents struggle to pay their bills.

Police Officer

Working as a Police Officer, especially in large metro areas such as NYC, is one of the best paying and secure jobs for people who didn’t go to college.

Police officer unions are incredibly strong and ensure that the pay and benefits for their members.

In most cases (such as with the NYPD) you only have to have college credits, you never have to complete college. So, what most police officers do is take some basic classes at a community college and then enroll in the police academy.

The major upside to working as a police officer is that you get paid exceptionally well, you have a strong union, and you have job security for life–police can retire after 20 years with a pension. Which means you can stop working in your late 40s if you want.

While not all police make 400k a year, it’s a job where you will easily make 100k and get full medical benefits and a pension.

The downside, of course, is that the job is dangerous.

Non-Profit Case Manager

If you are someone who is interested in working with the public, and do not mind a difficult job–then non-profit case management work might be a good option.

Non-Profits are taxpayer funded, and because of this they are more open to accepting people without college degrees–this includes people recently released from prison, people who have gaps on their resume due to drug and alcohol problems, and also people who have never gone to college.

Sometimes a Non-Profit might request that a person have an Associates Degree–while other times a simple high school degree (or even a GED) is acceptable.

The great thing about working in a non-profit as a case manager is that they will often times pay for their employees to go back to school and obtain a College Degree and even a Masters Degree.

If you are someone who only has a high school degree, and you are seeking work as a case manager-it will be helpful if you have a skill (such as being bilingual). Large private contractors that operate facilities for the city and work in tandem with Non-Profits are likely to hire you.

Some places such as NYC had hundreds of millions in spending for social services (in some cases a single agency might win a contract of close to half a billion dollars). Which means that there are plenty of jobs.

Licensed Practical Nurse

While Nurses usually refers to a Registered Nurse (an RN) and these jobs pay the most (starting salaries for nurses in most cities is 100k), licensed practical nursing is another good option.

A RN does not always need a 4 year college degree-most nurses go to a nursing school (instead of a real college) and many of these programs are expedited to 2 years.

However, an LPN degree is cheaper to obtain than an RN degree, and it’s also faster. There are many LPN programs that can take someone just out of high school and they can get their LPN degree in less than 18 Months.

LPN’s also can do most of the work an RN can do. They normally do not work in Hospitals (therefore they won’t make the same large salaries) however, they are often found working in city run homeless shelters, non-profits, and other areas that are in dire need of nursing and medical support.

Another area where you will find LPN’s are in nursing homes and rehabilitation centers. These locations are normally staffed by multiple LPNs and a single RN that oversees the floor.

LPNs do everything from change garments, administer medication, and assist with bodily functions for immobile patients.

Plumber/Electrician/Carpenter

If you like working with your hands, then there is no better career than a job in the traders–as long as it’s union job (more on that later).

You might be a plumber, an electrician, a carpenter, a steelworker or whatever else you find interesting (or available).

However, make sure that you are in a union. Non-union pay rates for manual labor is abysmal (unless you are a contractor working on projects–but that is a whole other story).

Union jobs pay excellent wages, and more importantly they have the best medical available. You should make sure though, that you are working with a union.

Most union jobs are found through friends and family. However, there are open calls usually posted on union websites–and in newspapers designed to be read by union members.

The best approach is to look up the local unions in your city and then contact the union hall.

Car Salesman

When most people hear the phrase car salesman, they automatically think of a slick, dishonest person who is trying to cheat you. And that’s oftentimes the truth –especially with used and pre-owned cards.

However, in truth working at a car dealership is one of the best entry jobs for someone who didn’t go to college. It’s even a good option for people who have been incarcerated and are seeking to find work.

The truth is that the pay is low for most car sales jobs–unless you are on a high commission basis and working on a used car lot. But what it can do is help springboard your career and launch you into another role.

Many people stay in the auto sales industry, and the skills that one gains form working with difficult customers, low margins, and high pressure sales techniques can be beneficial down the road in other lines of work.

Radiologist Technician

Unlike Nursing Assistants, who do not make much money–a Rad Tech (the shorthand name for these specilists) make quite a lot of money.

In Manhattan, for instance, a Rad Tech at a Major hospital will make around $50hr. This number can fluctuate depending on the particular hospital.

Many people like to work as Rad Tech’s because it is a bit more professional than working as a Nurse. There is less bedside work (you’re not cleaning people, being exposed to human waste, and dealing with difficult patients).

Radiologist Technicians will need to go to a training school which will prepare them. These schools are not as expensive as a college, and are much quicker.

If you join a forum for Radiologist Techs online, you could see what local Rad Techs are making. It is very dependent on location and workplace. If you’re in a large city and working at a hospital–then salaries around 150k are common. It will be less if you’re working somewhere smaller, or in a small doctors office that does not handle as much in the way of medical insurance.

Civil Service

Finally, it is important to note that most Civil Service roles (including Police and other city jobs) do not require a college degeee.

The major benefit to a city job is permanent job security, great benefits including a pension, and guaranteed pay raises every year.

Depending on the city you live in, the opportunities for civil service work might be very large. In places like NYC–many civil service jobs require no college degree and offer an amazing salary and pension.

Some news reports have covered the extreme salaries of civil servants at the local level (this one discusses the NYC police captain making close the half a million). Even in civil service sectors such as Mass Transit, the pensions and overtime are extreme.

These huge pensions and salaries are all funded by tax money, so there is no risk of layoffs–there is no expectation for profit or other KPIs that exist in the private sector.