10 Jobs With High Pay and Minimal Schooling Required!

Your New Career
Here’s a list of top-paying jobs requiring little schooling, and their median annual earnings as of 2006, using the latest data available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Keep in mind that these jobs have their own challenges and often require some type of specialized schooling - sometimes on-the-job training.

1.  Air Traffic Controllers: $117,200

These workers make sure airplanes land and take off safely, and they typically top lists of this nature. The median 50% earned between $86,860-142,210, with good benefits. Air traffic controllers are eligible to retire at age 50 with 20 years of service, or after 25 years at any age.

  Watching blinking dots on a radar screen that control the lives of hundreds can be stressful, and the job require specialized FAA schooling and on-the-job training. Typically, two to four years of training are needed in order to become fully certified, although previous military experience can cut that time down significantly.

  2. Industrial Production Managers: $77,670

    They oversee manufacturing activities. A college degree is preferred, but not necessarily mandatory. They often work in industries such as aviation and automobiles.

  3. First-Line Police and Detective Supervisors: $69,300

    Police officers can advance through the ranks to become supervisors by passing exams and achieving good performance reviews, and advanced training can help win promotions.

  4. Funeral Director: $49,620

    College programs in mortuary science usually last from two to four years. You typically must also serve a one-year apprenticeship, pass an exam and obtain a state license. Hours can be long and irregular. Dealing with dead bodies and crying relatives isn’t for everyone.

  5. Police and Sheriff Patrol Officers: $47,460

    Police corporals had an average minimum annual base salary of $44,160, according to the International City-County Management Association. But total income can significantly exceed base salary because of overtime pay. And police officers can often retire at half-pay after 25-30 years of service.

    Applicants usually must have at least a high school education, and some departments require a year or two of college or even a degree. Rookies are trained at police academies.

  6. Advertising Sales Agents: $42,750

    20% have a high school degree or less, and 10% have an Associate’s degree.

  7. Real Estate Brokers and Sales Agents: $39,760

    Don’t let that figure fool you; the highest 10% earned more than $111,500. While advanced coursework is not necessarily required, new entrants must pass an exam and get a state license. Connections in the community and a willingness to work hard are what really count, but experience and a good housing market also help.

  8. Occupational Therapist Assistants: $42,060

    These workers usually need an associate degree or a certificate. They work with occupational therapists, helping injured patients recover from, or compensate for, lost motor skills. Job prospects are good in the growing health care field, especially for those with some post-secondary education.

  9. Occupational Therapist Aides: $25,000

    These employees receive most training on the job. Under supervision of occupational therapists, they also work with injured people. Competition for jobs is tougher for those with only a high school diploma.

  10. Physical Therapist Assistants: $41,360

    These workers deal with physical therapists, helping patents improve mobility, relieve pain or overcome injuries or disabilities. Those working in home health care services tend to make more on average. Aides, earning an average of $22,000, are trained on the job. Assistants, who have greater responsibilities, typically need an associate’s degree.

The Bottom Line
Despite a recession, plenty of career paths can lead to well-paying professions without spending four years or more hitting the books, including opportunities in law enforcement, health

care and sales. The goal is to find a job that matches your own particular talents and preferences in addition to supporting your lifestyle.

My father’s been a Physical Therapy Assistant off and on for about forty years now (retiring in a few weeks). He’s had other jobs that made use of his college, but he’s really always felt most comfortable there. He never had any problems keeping food on the table after my mother passed (she was the primary wage-earner, still a rare thing in the early ‘80s) and generally kept going at it. This isn’t because it’s the only thing he’s good at: His full resume is about a dozen pages long (including a film credit for a crowd scene in Hello Dolly - his Bacon Number is 2), all jobe he excelled at, and left because it was ‘time for something new’.

I worked in the US federal gov’t HR for two years. A lot of other jobs that paid well but didn’t require schooling were the blue collar positions. For example, Electricians started at like $35,000 but worked their way into the $60,000s.

Also, firefighters. We would hire plenty of students from a 1-year firefighting program at the local community college. It started at like $30,000, but with yearly raises the salary goes up quick. A senior firefighter would make like $50,000, but then there were team lead and supervisor ranks above that. Not to mention that these salaries didn’t include overtime pay, which all the firefighters got plenty of, so they really made way more then what their basic “salary” usually was listed as.

The oil and gas sector is another area that can pay well with minimal schooling. Starting out as a roughneck on a drilling rig, a person can make $80,000 a year. During boom times, you can work your way up to Rig Manager (Toolpusher) in 4-5 years. One Toolpusher I talked to in 2006 told me he paid $120,000 in income tax the previous year. The money is so good, most drilling companies (in Alberta anyway) have a policy that they don’t hire high school dropouts to discourage teenagers from quitting school. That was a good thing because in the last couple of years the drilling activity in Alberta has dropped off considerably. Many a roughneck is now working for minimum wage and wondering what to do with their $60,000 pickup truck and $300,000 mortgage.

Captain A, while being a roughneck is a good start for strong young men, it has a very narrow target audience.  It isn’t a typical opportunity for women or folks who don’t have the physical endurance or are looking for re-employment and are a bit older. 

My last employment was for a company that did electrical wiring for swim pools and landscaping.  I worked in the office along with three other much younger women.  Starting males needed to be very strong and durable because they hand-dug ditches for conduits for hours at a time.  By the time they were older they were master electricians with apprentice helpers to do the digging.

hulitoons - 03 November 2009 09:29 AM

Captain A, while being a roughneck is a good start for strong young men, it has a very narrow target audience.  It isn’t a typical opportunity for women or folks who don’t have the physical endurance or are looking for re-employment and are a bit older. 

Hulitoons, I can’t argue with you there. Roughnecking is hard work and though it pays well, you earn every penny. However, there are numerous opportunities for women (and men who are less than Hulk Hogan material) in this field. Some require a little more education but not necessarily all of them do. I got hired on as a service hand looking after drilling rig instrumentation and I had never even seen a drilling rig before.  I did have other experience that made me a good candidate to learn but there were others who had a lot less. Since at that time there was an acute shortage of people I was hired. A little bit of computer knowledge goes a long way. Roughnecks are not known for their computer knowledge and the type of computer knowledge needed does not necessarily come from formal schooling. You could learn it on your own. It helps to know something about rig operations but that can come with on-the-job training. If you have the technical knowledge, you have an advantage.

One job I did was MWD (Measurement While Drilling) Operator. I met several women who did this job. Although it does require some hard physical labor at times, it is acceptable to ask others for help, such as carrying the MWD tool assembly up to the drill floor. With more education women can be Geologists or Process Engineers. A 2-year diploma in Petroleum Engingeering opens a lot of doors. I have worked with several female Geologists but I have never met a female roughneck although I’m told they do exist.

The moral of the story is: get as much education as you can. It will make your life easier in the long run.

For someone with variety of experience in computers, electronics, hydraulics and electro-mechanical you might be able to get a job as a flight simulator technician like I did.  Experience counts more than formal training in entering this field.  The average pay for a tech is about $25 and hour going up to about $35 if you become an engineer (no degree necessary but better be good with software and computers) or shift lead.  There are very few formal courses on becoming a sim tech and most places will grab ex military, avionics techs or aviation techs and train them on the job.  The only drawback is that it is a rather limited field and openings are fairly few.