Those who have a successful career with no college degree, what do you do for a living?

26 comments

1. I’m a chief engineer. I do have a college degree now (in business management, so not the field I work in) but I didn’t have it when I started this job.

2. I’m a photographer and I love what I do. I always wanted to do this.

3. I know HVAC people and electricians who own their own businesses are are ballin.

4. I work in the oil industry and recently took a sideways move into a new area after 10 years. Things are going great and the company is doing well with renewable energy contracts, we’re at the forefront of tech. Most people here are graduates but every now and then they’ll do an intake of ‘unskilled’ people who have the right talents and attitude.

5. Computer programmer. No degree, no certs. Saved up for a TRS-80 in 1980 and never looked back.

6. I work in IT. I’ve been in this career field for 20+ years, and back when I started, you didn’t really need a degree. A certificate or two, and the ability to demonstrate aptitude with computers was enough to qualify you for many IT jobs.

7. Male prostitute. It’s common for guys in my field to charge by the inch so I make more than the average joe.

8. Post Office

9. Ran bars and restaurants then moved into IT and now work for a big Tech company.
   I’ve no real idea how this happened but I can tell you it was worth the wait, and what a ride!

10. I went to community college to learn welding. From there, branches out into machining. Now, I’m a QC Inspector for a large industrial manufacturer.

    Never had any student debt and I’m making over $100k with a good retirement account that my employer matches 8% of my contributions.

11. I’m a full-stack web developer, somehow got a job in the field and managed to keep it for close to 2 years already.

12. I don’t have a four year degree but I do have a two year one.

    I ship stuff from a warehouse

    I think blue collar/trades/warehouses are good places to go to get the most bang for your buck, as far as education level is concerned.

    Even office work for a construction/warehouse company of some sort is a good way to go.

    There’s opportunities for advancement and growth in white collar positions within blue collar workplaces that don’t require you to have a degree to do it.

13. Construction project manager. Started by swinging a hammer in my youth and transitioned to management due to my years of experience in the field.

14. I’ve been in mining for about 9 years, both surface and underground.
    I’ve worked both travel jobs and close to home, currently at home with no plans to leave.

    While it is considered dangerous, everything we do is safe. We’re super regulated and my particular mine hasn’t had a lost time in 7 years or so.

15. Route co-ordinator. I spent my 20s starting fights with stupid management until I ended up job hunting my way into a position where I manage.

    Now I fight everyone around me and reality check them.

16. Locksmiths, electricians, plumbers, welders, fabricators.

    I know guys that do all those things and make a decent living.

17. Software engineer. I did go to college for a few years before dropping out to take a full-time offer, but I had a couple classmates who had full-time offers from Google before they had even started college. The field is pretty degree agnostic.

18. Oilfield trash here. I make between 150 and 200k usd a year making sure completion consultants don’t blow us up.

19. Senior business analyst working with some of the largest global financial and telecommunications companies is Europe and US. Was it what I wanted to do when I was younger not really but god I enjoy it and the salary more than makes up for the harder more shitty jobs I did before getting into the field

20. Own a couple small businesses

    Published a few books

    Do some consulting

    Teach Jiu-Jitsu

21. I’m a Platforms Engineer. I’ve been in IT for about 15 years. Just read a lot and know how to Google.

22. Im a floor layer. At 23 i own a house (bought it with my brother, also a floor layer) and am almost at the point of a 6 figure income (i can almost taste it im so close)

    Really anyone can lay floors too, 95% of the job a trained monkey can do (my evidence is the fact that i can do it) the last 5 percent requires some real skill, but that comes with practice, yall got this!

23. Cybersecurity

    Anything in IT would work

24. I’m an Intellectual Property paralegal at a large pharmaceutical company.

25. Union steamfitter

26. Union Boilermaker pressure welder, $52.07/hr on the cheque and $70/hr total wage package🤙🏻