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Work makes up a significant portion of your life. In fact, studies show that a third of your life will be spent working. That’s about 92,000 hours from age 18 to 67. So, why not have fun while you’re at it?  

And while having fun at work is great, it also makes a difference if you’re earning enough to pay the bills and enjoy some. If you’re looking for both pleasure and a good salary at work, there are plenty of fun jobs that pay well without a degree! 

It’s never too late to start. Turn your life around and check out our list of enjoyable careers that don’t require a degree. 

Marketing Professional

View course: https://www.uscareertrainingprograms.com/courses/business-management/marketing-professional

• Annual median salary (2019): $136,850
• Time it takes to complete: 6 months
• On-the-job training: None
• Projected growth from 2019-2029: 6% (Faster than average)
• Offered in: Fresno University and Texas A&M University - Texarkana

Any marketplace can get too saturated with brands and companies - and this is where the expertise of a marketing professional can come in handy. These mavens work to not only educate consumers, but they also know the ins and outs of enticing customers to choose a business’ product or service over others through brilliant and effective marketing strategies. 

As a marketing professional, you will get in touch with your “people” side, digging deep into consumer desires and reaching out to them to translate their wants and needs into sales. You will work side by side with business owners and creatives to make a business stand out among the competition using meaningful stories, brand messaging, and communications. 

Apart from that, marketing professionals earn competitive salaries too, both as freelancers and employees. This is just one of many reasons that make marketing ideal for those looking for good jobs without a degree.  

You will be able to showcase your versatility working in any industry and any clientele.

 

Photographer (Knowledgeable in Adobe Photoshop®)

View course: https://www.uscareertrainingprograms.com/courses/hospitality-travel-creative/photography-professional-with-adobe-photoshop

• Annual median salary (2019):  $36,280
• Time it takes to complete:  6 months
• On-the-job training: Moderate
• Certification exam the program prepares you for: Adobe Certified Associate (ACA) Exam for Visual Communication Using Adobe Photoshop (PS) and Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Certification Exam
• Offered in: Fresno University, Texas A&M University - Texarkana, Montana State University, Louisiana State University - Shreveport, Clemson University, and Auburn University

Memories and photographs are an intrinsic part of any space, be it at work or at home, and for creatives, this makes photography one of the best careers that don’t require a degree.

As a photographer you will have the adaptability to work on a wide breadth of concepts, with a variety of clients, from babies to brides and grooms, to corporate clients. You will learn how to work with light and design both indoors and outdoors, as well as digital tools and photo editing software like Adobe Photoshop to create the desired visual image, while incorporating your creative skills. You will also understand the magnificent world of cameras and the importance of choosing the right camera and developing your own artistic style to achieve that trademark photography that will get you ahead in the game.

Although the BLS estimates salaries to range between $30,000 and $40,000 annually for entry-level photographers, those who eventually gain broader and stronger skill sets get to enjoy higher salaries of $50,000 to 83,000, and even establish their own studios. 

 

Front-End Web Developer

View course:  https://www.uscareertrainingprograms.com/courses/it-computer-technology/frontend-web-developer

• Annual median salary (2019): $73,760
• Time it takes to complete:  6 months
• On-the-job training: None
• Certification exam the program prepares you for: Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) Exam 98-375: HTML5 Application Development Fundamentals
• Projected growth from 2019-2029: 8% (Faster than average)
• Offered in: Fresno University, Texas A&M University - Texarkana, Montana State University, Louisiana State University - Shreveport, Clemson University, Auburn University, and University of Wisconsin–La Crosse

If you have a knack for designing websites and are currently looking for good jobs without a degree, you might want to look into becoming a front-end web developer. Web developers use development technologies like JavaScript, HTML, and CSS to create interactive applications inside a browser. These allow them to work with a wide range of businesses, be it in healthcare, business and management, technical, advertising, and publishing. 

Apart from developing skills for designing and maintaining fully functional and attractive sites, you can also expect competitive wages even as an entry-level web developer.

 

Writing Professional

View course: https://www.uscareertrainingprograms.com/courses/business-management/writing-professional

• Annual median salary (2019): $63,200
• Time it takes to complete: 6 months
• On-the-job training: Long-term on-the-job training
• Offered in: Fresno University and Texas A&M University - Texarkana

Although some writing jobs, such as those for magazines and newspapers, often require aspiring writers to have a degree in Journalism, Literature, and similar disciplines, you would be surprised to know that many accomplished writers (think Mark Twain, Maya Angelou, and Ernest Hemingway) didn’t actually go to college, much less earn a degree. With the variety of writing opportunities available online now, from blogging to freelance copywriting, writing ranks among the most fun jobs that pay well without a degree.

Many writers nowadays subsist either on online work or self-employed endeavors, with evergreen jobs available for digital nomads. For those who have always been fascinated by words, writing jobs present an opportunity to explore various contexts and styles where words are a key to communicating effective messages and stories.

 

Entrepreneur

View course: https://www.uscareertrainingprograms.com/courses/business-management/entrepreneurship

• Annual median salary (2019):  $104,690
• Time it takes to complete: 6 months
• On-the-job training: None
• Offered in: Fresno University and Texas A&M University - Texarkana

MyCAA Careers that don’t require a degree can sometimes be hard to find. Fortunately, more and more Americans - 31 million as of 2019 - are discovering entrepreneurship to be an ideal option.  

As an entrepreneur, you can conceptualize and create any business venture from scratch, be it a food truck or a barbershop, making entrepreneurship one of the real fun jobs that pay well without a degree. 

Entrepreneurship means being in charge of your own business and your own future - from conception of ideas to execution, to management and decision making, to delivery of product to market.

Although creating your own venture might be intimidating and challenging at first, as an entrepreneur, you’ll also enjoy greater autonomy and flexibility, be able to hone your professional skills, and achieve personal enrichment.

 

Now that you have several options for good jobs without a degree, it’s time to jumpstart your career. Choose from any available course on this list, and get in touch with our career advisors to explore your options with US Career Training Programs’ education partners. Financial grants are available too! See for more MyCAA Courses and Check our MyCAA Career List.