<p>Not all of our kids are the type for whom college is a good fit. Here are some career options for such people.</p>
<p>"1. Margin department supervisor
Salary: $83,579/year
Primary duties: Overseeing a company’s credit department, which manages customer credit accounts and approves or denies credit to customers.</p>
<li><p>Air traffic controller
Salary: $74,922/year
Primary duties: Controlling air traffic around airports according to established procedures and policies to ensure flight safety.</p></li>
<li><p>Automobile service station manager
Salary: $72,246/year
Primary duties: Supervising gas stations and planning and implementing policy and procedure like hours of operation, workers’ duties and prices for products and services.</p></li>
<li><p>Real estate broker
Salary: $71,994/year
Primary duties: Securing real-estate transactions, selling real estate, renting properties and arranging loans.</p></li>
<li><p>Web surfer
Salary: $70,604/year
Primary duties: Scouring through multiple Web sites to analyze and compare information and user experiences to collect information to help companies understand online users’ behaviors…
[20</a> big-salary jobs, no degree required - CNN.com](<a href=“20 big-salary jobs, no degree required - CNN.com”>20 big-salary jobs, no degree required - CNN.com)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Some of these are clearly entry-level, and some are clearly not. Some I’m not sure about. It would be interesting to split CNN’s list into entry-level and non-entry-level jobs.</p>
<p>The going rate for an auto mechanic’s labor in St Louis is between 80 and 100 bucks an hour. I would imagine it’s similar for electricians and plumbers.</p>
<p>You may not need a college degree but you will definitely need technical training.<br>
You wouldn’t just walk in off the street and start any of these jobs.</p>
<p>(post #3) The auto mechanic, himself, however, does not receive the $80-$100. That is the billing rate and goes to the “house.” I don’t know the split or pay arrangement after that.</p>
<p>Real estate brokers, once established, can make far more than the $70~K listed, or far less. It’s a commissioned sales job and each broker determines his or her earning power based on skill and initiative. Quite a number of sales jobs are like this.</p>
<p>Entrepreneurial jobs - running one’s own construction company, for example, or restaurant or dress shop - can also be very remunerative. Requires initiative, skill, getting established, good business sense… but not a college degree. Requires an entrepreneurial spirit and willingness to take risk.</p>
<p>ucladad: I do BOTH - but really I was just kidding.
I don’t see where USA Today got the 70K figure…seems REALLY high.
One website says that most surfers make between $3 and $9.</p>
<p>If you’re decent at these you can generally make 50K+/year with OT. A supervisor above any of those can also not be degreed as well, which generally pays more.</p>
<p>The service station/dealership charges that much, but the mechanic doesn’t get paid anywhere near that much. Cost of tools, rent/mortgage, insurance, benefits, et al.</p>
<p>BTW, thank you SO MUCH for saying “well paying,” not “good paying.” The latter is the most popular choice, and it makes me grind my teeth.</p>
<p>Most of the linemen and underground gas workers at the two utilities I work for make at least double what I do, easily, and I have an MBA. But then again they are the ones who work around the clock trying to get you turned on and warm again should there be any outages, and it is not the safest job by any means. If you are still interested you can start working on your apprenticeship right out of high school…some here started in high school as co-ops while they were at BOCES (NY’s equivalent of a vo-tech school)</p>
<p>Some of these jobs will require training, state certification or passing of some sort of an exam to get a license. If a person moves to a different state, they might have to start from scratch to get the papers in order. A friend’s spouse is a highly skilled plumber who had to jump through all sorts of hoops to get certification to be able to work in a state where their family moved to. The friend, OTOH, did not have to take any exams to prove that her PhD diploma was still valid. :)</p>
<p>Forest for the trees… So my specific numbers are overestimated by some amount. I didn’t figure income taxes either, but my point is still valid that a mechanic is paid well for a career that doesn’t require a bachelor’s degree.</p>
<p>There are also all kinds of jobs in regular business where people have moved into management, including senior management, despite the lack of a degree. It’s not necessarily the recommended approach but it certainly happens. They also don’t need a degree to start their own business and succeed that way. People don’t need a degree to be smart, take initiative, and to succeed. Conversely, there are plenty of people who do have degrees who aren’t successful, lack initiative, and aren’t even that smart.</p>