No college, no problem: $100k jobs with no degree
CNBC reports,
It may not be a piece of cake, but despite stagnant wages for the majority of U.S. workers, making a six-figure salary without earning a college degree can be achieved.
From overseeing the creation of beautiful breads, pastries and desserts for hotels and restaurants as an executive pastry chef to (surprisingly!) becoming a nuclear power reactor operator conducting procedures that start up or shut down the plant, having a college degree in these occupations is not mandatory.
Personal trainers, massage therapists, and handymen are also among the jobs where top earners with no college degree can receive annual pay that exceeds $100,000, according to PayScale.com. To compile this list, PayScale.com surveyed its salary and career database, covering about 12,000 jobs in over 1,000 industries. . . .
PayScale.com found executive pastry chefs, handymen, licensed massage therapists, personal trainers, and nuclear power operators could earn median annual salaries of $45,100 to $103,000 a year. The annual pay could potentially rise much higher.
Among nuclear power reactor operators, personal trainers, and licensed massage therapists, top earners commanded salaries of over $140,000 a year! . . .
ScienceBuddies.org, a non-profit website that encourages students and parents to learn more about careers in the sciences, makes sure young people know how long it can take to reach that goal. Before even beginning training, a nuclear power plant worker must have 3 years of power plant experience. At least 6 months of this must be on-site at the nuclear power plant where the operator is to be licensed and training generally takes at least one year before the worker takes the NRC-administered exam.
Even a Homer Simpson could be hauling in six figures!