What to do if you don't go to college
There are plenty of options to make a living without going to college.
Of course, some options pay better than others and will make living your life easier but smartly managing yourself even in a "bad" job is totally fine. You can do it!
Degree-free remote job options:
- Creative work
- Graphic designer
- Media producer (Video, music, etc)
- Information Tech ("IT")
- Software development
- Support center agent
- Systems Administration
- Website development
- Marketing
- Digital marketing consulting
- Sales agent
- Social Media / Internet
- Virtual Assistant
Degree-free in-person job options
- Civil service
- Firefighter
- Police / Corrections / etc
- Computer repair tech
- Construction
- Food industry
- Landscaping / Yard work
- Mechanic
- Retail / Sales
..and of course there are countless other jobs / careers out there.
1. Pick something you want to try.
There are a lot of options for anyone out there, be flexible.
The main consideration in my view is what sort of work do you feel good about?
- Do you feel like being at a computer all day would be horrible?
- Do you feel like being outside all day would be torture?
- Do you have physical limitations?
- Do you love to argue? Hate to argue?
- Do you love to write? etc.
Start by ruling out certain types of work & investigate what you don't know about.
If you feel unsure at any time don't worry that's normal, and you can re-create / re-invent yourself at basically any time .. but do give each decision a good effort before giving up on it! Even if you're good at something you will often struggle - that's OK.
Benefits of skipping college
- Save money.
- Get paid while you learn a job.
- Start building your life earlier.
- Avoid problems of choosing degrees that later turn out to not pay well.
- Adjust your path more flexibly.
- In college, it might be years or at least multiple semesters before you figure out that your current path might not be right.
- Even if you feel like it might not be best, sometimes you'll feel stuck.
- I know people who end up taking 6 or more years to finish their "4 year" degree... this is not uncommon.
2. Get your training.
So, OK you've decided on something to try and get into. What next?
You may be able to either:
- Get the job right away, and get training on the job.
- Or you can get "vocational" training / schooling
- 2-year "Associate's" degree at a "Community College"
- or a shorter training bootcamp or certificate program
- Or Teach yourself!
- take free online courses
- go to your local library and ask for job training resources
Never stop learning.
No matter what you do you'll always be better off continually learning. Even after you get a job keep learning how to be better at it, to elevate your position, and potentially to move to something even better.
Talk to people!
No matter what you do, or how you want to learn... talk to people and ask for help or ask about their job. People are pretty amazing and most people will help you out.
+ Build your own business.
In some cases you might want to start a business instead of working for someone else.
Starting a business is a complicated topic but really it can be done at any time ... I can say you will know it's right when it is right. That's to say, you'll have some idea and it'll make sense then you can go after it.
You can't force a business idea though. It never hurts to try but some businesses are more risky than others. More often than not I've seen people with business ideas fail.
That said: Some businesses or self-employment options are very easy
- maybe you love to cook and have a good easy product to make into a Food truck business.
- then develop an idea, raise some money and get going however you can
- maybe you start out in a small way then build up to having a full food truck business
- maybe you are handy and offer services directly to all of your neighbors!
- maybe you are seeing something in the online world that no one is doing right!
You can do it! Let's go!
Question? Email me at 'jaz' at the domain.