9 Great Jobs That Don't Require A College Degree

Want to be the envy of all your worthless liberal arts degree-having friends? Become a mechanic." The economy may have yet to recover from its implosion a few years ago, but you still have bills to pay, rent checks to write and a healthy drinking habit to support, which means you need money. "I'm not qualified for anything, I don't have my degree," you might say to yourself. That's loser talk. Whoever said that you need to write the letters B.A. after your name was full of BS.

The obvious answer to your problem is "entrepreneur," but we've decided to leave that off the list since we haven't seen too many postings for "entrepreneur" on Craigslist or CareerBuilder lately. In other words, you can’t apply to be an entrepreneur, you just have to do it.

Here are the nine best jobs that you can apply for and build a career around without earning a four-year degree. Plus, you might just get a parade in your honor with one of these. Try and guess which one.

Being a firefighter is pretty much the embodiment of a hero. You're out there saving lives and property. You're the savior to everyone who didn't pay attention to the level of oil required to fry a turkey. You save California every three or four years from burning off the face of the earth. All the while, you're keeping in top physical shape.

With a high-school diploma, a little relevant experience and the ability to perform strength-draining exertions under intense pressure, you've got a future in firefighting.

If being in close to firefighter condition when you start out is something you enjoy, but that penchant for sweet, fried pastries is a vice you just cannot control, starting out as a police officer might be more your speed.

Now, for most jurisdictions, you're probably going to need an associate's degree in criminal law or 12-18 months’ worth of experience in the law enforcement business to be a proper officer, but there may be entry-level positions available.

Want to be the envy of all your worthless liberal arts degree-having friends? Become a mechanic. Being able to fix cars around these people is like having a license to print money. Plus, it's a damned respectable and professional career choice.

Starting as a mechanic usually involves being an apprentice. You know, how useful education used to be passed along before everyone decided you should have letters after your name?

Everyone has appliances that break around the house. It seems like every two months the clothes dryer decides that "blowing hot air" is no longer a part of its job description. Used to be that you'd just throw that under-performing piece of garbage out, but not in this economic maelstrom.

Working in the world of appliance repair is a lot like working in automotive repair. There are no specific education prerequisites, as most of the skill is acquired on the job. An extremely skilled repairman who isn't strictly on salary might bring in close to $50,000.

Again, we're talking about learning a trade, so no matter how badly you screwed up in school, it doesn't matter. Granted, you can't be a moron and learn complex, potentially dangerous skills (in the case of working with live electricity) but it’s virtually guaranteed that you'll be in high demand. Not surprisingly, guys aren’t exactly lining up to work with high voltage or in sewers, so you should be able to find a niche in either, both of which are respectable trades.

Union benefits and becoming licensed are a few of the perks you have to look forward to.

The salesman is truly the American job. Earn what you're worth, not a cent more. You don't need a formal education to be a salesman -- you need a brass personality and thick skin. Infrequent pay checks, constant rejection and an almost immediate repulsion from anyone you let know you're in sales are just a few of the givens of the profession.

That being said, earning potential is usually unlimited and setting your own hours can be a perk. Success or failure, this one is all on you.

Half computer hacker, half unappreciated artist, the web design field is an interesting blend of left and right brain skills that doesn't really translate into a relevant degree. If you have these seemingly opposite skills, you're in demand. With commerce, networking and research all being done on the web in large scales, the design of a website is absolutely crucial to success.

If you genuinely enjoy helping people (and not just saying that you do), then this might be a job to consider. Learning this position can be done either on the job, via a correspondence program or at a junior college. Rehabilitation can be a rewarding experience in and of itself.

The lure of the open road can be the biggest perk of all. Not only that, but truck drivers are responsible for just about everything that happens in the economy. Sure, you can buy it online, but how are they going to get it to you? The truck isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Most truck drivers have at least their high-school degree and many more beyond that go to truck driving school to learn to drive 18-wheel behemoths.

Here at AskMen.com, we're not saying that a college degree isn't worth getting. After all, a college degree nets around $20,000 a year more than you'd otherwise receive. If you can get it -- great. But if you don't have a college degree, there are plenty of respectable careers that don't require it, careers that are in demand and really make society tick along. Not too many English majors can say that.

I don’t have a degree, never even went to college save two CC classes, but I’ve done very well in the accounting field which is rather ironic given math was not exactly my strongest subject in school although I was a very good student overall.

After I graduated HS, I wanted to go to college but couldn’t afford it and my parents couldn’t help, and besides, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to major in so I started out in retail part time, but I worked hard and quickly moved up to management – at 19, I was the youngest store manager the chain ever had and turned around several failing stores. But I worked my ass off, sometimes up to 80 hours a week.

When I got sick of retail, I got a job as an administrative assistant for an architecture firm in construction administration. I didn’t have any experience but I did have familiarity with construction and construction terminology having sort of grown up around it. I had never used a computer either but soon found I had a real aptitude, especially with databases and spreadsheets. I worked very hard, took on projects outside of my job description, got to be friends with the CAD and IT manager and learned a lot about computers and when the bookkeeper left, I was offered that position even though I didn’t know the difference between a debit or a credit. But once again, I worked hard, learned as I went and was never afraid to ask questions and pushed myself to learn as much as possible.

After working as a bookkeeper for that firm and then a general contractor for many years as a full charge bookkeeper and office manager, I eventually landed a job with a pharmaceutical company after the GC closed when the owner retired. I started out as just a temp on a fixed asset project due to my very strong computer and Excel skills. I was told there was no fulltime position but about a month later I was offered one as a payroll manager (although I was the entire PR department so I was sort of managing myself.) : )

While at the pharma, a publically traded company BTW, I also was given charge of the AP department, supervising two AP clerks and eventually was promoted to a senior staff accountant, promoted over a few who had accounting degrees – again myself having no degree. I worked a lot of hours (usually in before 8AM and not leaving until 7 or 8 PM) and had a lot of responsibilities and a lot of stress, but I loved my job. I probably would still be with the pharma had they not been sold to a bigger pharma and the accounting functions moved out of state.

I moved on to a tech company that specialized in HR systems and third party insurance administration, supervising the department and a staff of three that provided premium billing, COBRA administration and data audits of insurance company enrollments. I really honed my tech skills and sort of self taught myself some programming language along the way and became the office “Excel” guru and learned a lot about insurance and benefits. I was making close to 70k per year BTW. That company had some very serious cash flow and management problems so when I saw an opportunity I moved on. I took a position as independent contractor for a firm where one of my former manager’s went to implement a new payroll and HRIS system. Unfortunately that didn’t work out and the contract ended after less than six months but I did pick up some new skills and knowledge.

Unfortunately this happened at the height of the economic downturn and I was unemployed for over a year. I think, even though I had great skills and excellent references, my lack of a degree hurt me and I couldn’t get a job for a time, any job for that matter, and I even applied to Walmart as a greeter! Eventually I got a part time seasonal job at Target and worked my ass off, and then got a full time job as a COBRA administrator (working two jobs for a time) but for a whole lot less $ money than what I previously made and in much lower position, but I was happy just to have a job and worked hard and again, learned as much as I could while I was there.

I now have a much better job as a payroll and HRIS manager for a manufacturing division of a multi-national company. I’m not quite up to my previous high salary level but I’m making over 50k, have great benefits and absolutely love my job! I actually look forward to going to work and it must show because after only three months, my manager gave me an excellent 90 day review and a salary increase.

The bottom line is that I’m not special or even what I would consider brilliant by any means, but I work hard, apply myself, look for opportunities to learn more (even doing so on my own time) take on any and all projects as assigned and do the best I can.

Ironically if I had an accounting degree, I might not be doing any better than I am now financially excepting perhaps having an MBA or working in public accounting (which I don’t think I’d like) or being a CFO, which is not my passion in life. I love payroll and information systems management. And I’m very good at it.

My advice for anyone who can’t afford college or doesn’t have the aptitude for it; take the best job you can get and apply yourself, make your job your passion even if it isn’t your life’s passion. Learn everything you can, ask questions, lots of questions even if it isn’t directly related to your job. Work overtime when it’s offered, don’t turn down any assignment even if it isn’t in your job description or you’re not going to be paid extra for it or you find it “beneath you”. Respect your boss but don’t be afraid to challenge him or her when appropriate. Respect your co-workers like you want to be respected. Be loyal to your company and follow the rules but if you find a better opportunity - take it. If at all possible, never burn bridges and if you leave a job, leave it on the best terms possible. Keep on good terms with former bosses and co-workers; they can be great recourses and references for a future job. Don’t be afraid to take a lower position or lower paying job if that’s all you can get but make the absolute best of it and learn everything you can from the experience and parley those new skills for your next job.

Eventually however, with or without a degree, you must follow your bliss; find what you really like doing and be the very best you can at doing it. Do these things and you will do eventually do well even without a college degree.

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