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How to Get a Job Without a Degree: 10 Career Paths That Pay Well
Searching for high-paying jobs that don’t require a degree can feel discouraging, but applying practical, skills-first strategies and exploring careers that pay well without a degree can boost your confidence and visibility while helping you get hired faster.
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It can feel impossible to earn a strong salary without a degree, especially if most high earners you know have a bachelor’s degree or higher, but it isn’t. There are plenty of high-paying jobs that don’t require a degree, and your existing skills may already put you within reach of many of them.
Finding and landing no-degree jobs with solid pay might take a little more effort, but this guide will walk you through how to get a job without a degree and stand out in a competitive job market. You’ll also get examples of 10 careers that pay well without a degree to get you started as you explore your options.
Are There High-Paying Jobs That Don’t Require a Degree?
Yes, there are absolutely jobs with high salaries and no degree requirements. You don’t need a degree to build a solid career, and today’s evolving job market proves it. Employers are leaning hard into skills-based hiring, which means they’re far more interested in what you can do than whether or not you went to college.
Certifications, portfolios featuring work samples that demonstrate your experience, and practical skills often carry more weight than a degree alone. Plus, many fast-growing fields, such as tech and renewable energy, actively hire degree-free talent.
How AI Is Breaking the Degree Barrier
AI is changing how people build careers, not by replacing the need for relevant skills but by expanding the types of skills that matter and opening doors to new opportunities.
As automation takes over routine tasks, roles focused on accuracy, judgment, and the ability to work with evolving tools are appearing across industries in areas like AI operations, data labeling, workflow support, customer experience, and digital content review.
The way people learn is also being reshaped by AI, which is good news for job seekers. It’s easier than ever to practice technical skills, experiment with real tools, and build sample projects that help you qualify for higher-paying opportunities without a traditional degree.
How to Get a Job Without a Degree: 7 Steps for Success
To land a job that pays well without a degree, you’ll need to show employers you have the right skills, experience, and work ethic to succeed. The steps below outline a clear path you can follow before and during your search, whether you’re switching careers, starting fresh, or rebuilding your confidence after a setback.
1 Identify Your Transferable Skills
Start by taking stock of the skills you already have. Most people underestimate themselves here, especially if they’ve spent years in customer-facing service jobs, as caregivers, or as volunteers. The skills gained through these experiences, however, even if unpaid, translate well into jobs that don’t require college.
Think about tasks you’ve handled in past roles and the tools, characteristics, or competencies required to accomplish them. Have you managed schedules, coordinated with different types of people, handled customer issues, adapted to rapid changes, or worked independently with minimal supervision? All of these efforts demonstrate in-demand skills you can highlight in your search for new opportunities.
Common transferable skills include:
- Adaptability
- Attention to detail
- Collaboration
- Communication
- Creative thinking
- Data collection and analysis
- Emotional intelligence
- Leadership and management
- Organization
- Problem-solving
- Tech literacy
- Time management
Get specific, write your transferable skills down, and keep them handy, because you’ll use them throughout your job search, especially when writing your resume and preparing for interviews.
2 Choose a Career Path That Fits Your Strengths
Once you’re clear on your skills, choosing a career path becomes easier. While many high-paying jobs don’t require a degree, they do require interest, energy, and willingness to learn. Instead of guessing what you might like, outline your preferences, strengths, and tasks you enjoy, and consider how they align with specific career fields.
Here’s how your interests and strengths can point you toward careers that feel rewarding and aligned with your skills:
- Solving problems and supporting people: Roles in customer service, tech support, and real estate let you work directly with clients, troubleshoot issues, and guide people through decisions.
- Structure and organization: Project management and operations jobs focus on keeping tasks on schedule, optimizing workflows, and coordinating logistics, so they’re ideal if you like routines and keeping things running smoothly.
- Digital or creative work: Digital marketing, social media, and content creation offer the chance to work both creatively and strategically, so these types of roles may be a fit if you enjoy writing, creating visuals, or compiling and analyzing data.
- Hands-on, precision-focused tasks: A great option for job seekers without degrees, jobs in the trades allow you to learn quickly, work in a more physical or technical setting, and start earning well without years of schooling.
3 Build Experience Through Low-Barrier Pathways
A big myth about no-degree jobs is that employers expect you to arrive fully trained. What they really want is evidence that you can learn and deliver results, which you can build in several ways that require far less time and money than college.
Consider the following accessible ways to gain experience and develop new skills:
- Freelance and temporary gigs
- Short bootcamps or online courses
- Mock or self-directed portfolio projects
- Volunteering with community groups or nonprofits
- Roles that offer apprenticeships or on-the-job training
- Building something from scratch to showcase your skills
- Helping small businesses with tasks like social media or website updates
- Industry-recognized certification programs that show foundational knowledge
Your goal is simple: Show employers your initiative and momentum. Even one small, relevant project can make a big difference when applying to jobs without a degree.
4 Create a Skills-Based Functional Resume
A skills-based resume, or functional resume, is a strategic format if you’re targeting high-paying jobs that don’t require college degrees. Also highly effective for career changers and entry-level job seekers, functional resumes highlight what you can do instead of focusing on previous work experience and education.
While traditional resumes put your job titles and work history front and center, functional resumes make your skills the centerpiece, pushing your work history further down the page with fewer details. As a result, this format encourages employers to focus on your strengths and what you’ll bring to the role.
Here’s an example of a functional, skills-based resume:
Relevant Skills
Customer Support
- Supported an average of 50 customers per day across phone, email, and chat while maintaining high satisfaction scores
- Used CRM tools (Zendesk and Salesforce) to track tickets, document interactions, and manage workload
Communication
- Delivered clear, concise updates to customers and team members, ensuring smooth handoffs and quick issue resolution
- Coordinated with multiple cross-functional teams to keep daily operations on schedule
Problem-Solving
- Resolved more than 80% of customer issues on the first contact
- Identified workflow gaps that reduced processing delays by roughly 20% after implementing improvements
Work History
- Customer Service Manager, Support Co., January 2017–October 2025
- Retail Supervisor, Clothes Ltd., June 2014–December 2016
Using strong action verbs (“delivered,” “coordinated,” “resolved”) and clear examples with metrics to support them (“an average of 50 customers,” “80% of customer issues”) goes a long way in communicating your abilities.
Furthermore, if you’ve completed certifications, learned new tools relevant to the role you’re applying for, or have portfolio samples to share, place them near the top of your resume so hiring managers see them right away. Doing so not only expands on your qualifications but also demonstrates that you’re proactive about continuous learning.
5 Use Smart Tools to Speed Up Your Search
Even though searching for jobs that don’t require a degree calls for a more targeted and strategic approach, a wide variety of job search tools are available to simplify your search. Two resources in particular can help you find and apply for jobs in less time:
- Job boards: From industry-specific job boards focused on opportunities in select career fields to niche job boards specializing in remote and work-from-home jobs, take advantage of the ability to home in on the types of roles you’re seeking. Many job boards allow you to filter results by degree requirements or career stage, follow companies of interest, and set job alerts that notify you the moment a role that aligns with your search criteria becomes available.
- AI job tools: Not only can AI tools recommend roles based on your skills, but you can also use them to create and polish your resume, tailor your cover letter, practice for interviews, and more. Sonara’s ExpertApply feature, for instance, can help identify roles that fit your skills and draft tailored application materials for you while giving you full control over which applications get sent.
6 Network Strategically and Get Referrals
Networking matters for every type of job search, including hunting for jobs that don’t require a degree, but your network can’t help you if they don’t know you’re seeking a new opportunity or what exactly you’re looking for.
Reaching out to existing contacts and making new connections doesn’t need to be awkward or overly formal. At its core, networking is simply telling people what you’re looking for and asking for advice or introductions, so:
- Reach out to your current network: Start with people you already know, like former coworkers and managers, past clients, and even friends and family. Be specific about the types of roles you’re interested in and ask if they know anyone hiring. Even politely asking them to keep you in mind if anything pops up could lead to an unexpected opportunity or referral.
- Build your network further: Online communities, industry groups, and professional forums are useful places to make new connections and increase your online visibility. Asking thoughtful questions, joining conversations by leaving comments, or sharing small projects can lead to helpful relationships.
7 Continue Upskilling to Stay Competitive
Even after you’ve landed a job, keep building your skills. Steady upskilling can set you apart, and it’s one of the fastest ways to grow into higher-level, higher-paying jobs.
Choose one or two skills that would make you more valuable in your field, whether that’s learning a project management framework, picking up basic coding, or adding a certification. Focus on developing those skills, refresh your resume as you gain new abilities, and continue targeting new qualifications from there.
Upskilling doesn’t need to be expensive, either. Free courses, online tutorials, and hands-on practice can help you advance in your career while showing employers you’re adaptable and committed to growth.
10 Careers That Pay Well Without a Degree
Explore the following 10 career paths with high-paying jobs that don’t require a degree to see if any sound like a fit for you. Each includes average salaries from Payscale, the primary skills required, job titles to consider, and an overview of what the work entails.
1. Cybersecurity Jobs
- Average salary: $83,409
- Key skills: Threat detection, network security, incident response, security information and event management (SIEM) tools
- Common job titles: Cybersecurity Analyst, Security Specialist, SOC Analyst
Cybersecurity professionals protect systems, networks, and data from digital threats across a wide range of industries. They monitor activity, identify vulnerabilities, and respond quickly to incidents to keep organizations secure.
2. DevOps Jobs
- Average salary: $112,190
- Key skills: Automation, cloud platforms, continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines, scripting, and system administration
- Common job titles: DevOps Engineer, DevOps Manager
DevOps roles combine software development (Dev) with IT operations (Ops) to streamline how applications are built and deployed. These professionals improve reliability and speed by automating workflows, managing cloud environments, and maintaining deployment pipelines.
3. Electrical Jobs
- Average salary: $65,417
- Key skills: Wiring, diagnostics, safety procedures, reading technical diagrams
- Common job titles: Electrical Technician, Electrician
Electrical professionals install, maintain, and repair systems in homes, businesses, and industrial environments. They troubleshoot issues, follow strict safety standards, and ensure electrical systems meet code requirements.
4. HVAC Jobs
- Average salary: $55,637
- Key skills: Diagnostics, mechanical repair, system installation, and customer communication
- Common job titles: HVAC Installer, HVAC Technician
HVAC professionals install and service heating, cooling, and ventilation systems in homes and businesses. They diagnose performance issues, handle mechanical repairs, and help customers maintain efficient and safe indoor environments.
5. Marketing Jobs
- Average salary: $61,383
- Key skills: Analytics, creativity, content strategy, and marketing tools like search engine optimization (SEO), customer relationship management (CRM) platforms, and email automation software
- Common job titles: Content Creator, Digital Marketer, Email Specialist
Marketing professionals help businesses grow their audiences through digital content, campaigns, and strategic messaging. They analyze performance data, understand market behavior, and create materials that attract and convert customers.
6. Pharmacy Jobs
- Average salary: $42,988
- Key skills: Accuracy, communication, organization, and pharmacy software systems
- Common job titles: Pharmacy Assistant, Pharmacy Technician
Unlike pharmacist jobs, which require degrees, roles such as pharmacy assistant or technician don’t require a degree and focus on supporting licensed pharmacists with daily operations. Pharmacy technicians and assistants help prepare prescriptions, manage inventory, and guide customers through basic questions to maintain accuracy, efficiency, and safety in administering medications.
7. Project Management Jobs
- Average salary: $57,952
- Key skills: Communication, planning, problem-solving, and project management tools like Trello or Asana
- Common job titles: Project Coordinator, Program Assistant
Entry-level project management jobs don’t require a degree and focus on supporting project leads with day-to-day work. Coordinators and assistants help manage schedules, track documentation, and keep cross-team communication organized so projects stay on course from start to finish.
8. Real Estate Jobs
- Average salary: $65,514
- Key skills: Negotiation, client communication, market research, marketing
- Common job titles: Broker Associate, Leasing Consultant, Real Estate Agent
Real estate professionals guide clients through buying, selling, and renting properties in both residential and commercial markets. They evaluate home values, market listings, negotiate deals, and stay current on local market trends.
9. Sales Jobs
- Average salary: $52,243
- Key skills: Communication, persuasion, product knowledge, and relationship-building
- Common job titles: Account Executive, Business Development Representative, Sales Representative
Sales professionals connect customers with solutions they need, often with strong potential to earn commissions in tech, healthcare, and business-to-business (B2B) sales. They manage client relationships, deliver service or product information, and close deals that drive revenue.
10. Web Design Jobs
- Average salary: $60,386
- Key skills: Layout and design principles, user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) design, HTML/CSS, and tools like Figma or Adobe XD
- Common job titles: UI/UX Designer, Web Designer
Web designers create websites that are visually appealing, functional, and easy to navigate. They collaborate with clients or development teams to design interfaces, refine navigation functionality, and build digital experiences that meet business objectives and user needs.
Your Earning Power Isn’t Tied to a Degree
If there’s one takeaway here, it’s that most employers care far more about what you can do than which degree or diploma you have. Skills, real-world experience, and the ability to learn quickly carry more weight in many of today’s fastest-growing fields.
Pick a direction, build the skills that matter, use tools that make the work of searching and applying easier, and keep leveling up as you go. There are a lot of high-paying jobs across industries open to candidates without degrees, and you’re completely capable of stepping into one on your terms.
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