It's no surprise that enrollment in the traditional four-year college has fallen in recent years. Today’s technological advancements, notably AI, are moving so fast that they’re outpacing what a traditional full-length curriculum can cover, particularly in business, technology, marketing and entrepreneurship. Plus, companies are putting more demand on real-world experience.
As a result, there has been a rise in lucrative career opportunities outside the confines of formal education. If you do decide to pursue a six-figure career path without formal higher education, you’ll have your best chance at achieving your goal if you understand what the current opportunities are, including the qualifications and your potential salary.
Let’s start by giving you some actionable tips on how to find and land a six-figure job without spending time and money on a pricey and potentially outdated degree before diving into a list of exact careers you can take on to achieve this goal.
How to Get a 6 Figure Job Without Paying for Higher Education
While you don't need a degree to make six-figures, you still have to have the right mindset and experience. Here are five proven ways to get the six-figure career of your dreams–sans degree:
1. Have the right mindset
The first step to getting a six figure job is having a can-do, growth mindset. It’s been said that all successful entrepreneurs have a strong bias towards action in addition to a positive outlook, so simply fostering these two traits will greatly increase your likelihood of earning six figures as an employee, entrepreneur or freelancer without a degree.
It’s also important to be persistent and resilient, knowing that progress is never linear and that you need to be patient and bounce back from any inevitable setbacks during your journey.
Continuous curiosity and a desire to understand fully how things work will also get you incredibly far, as you’ll need to be constantly educating yourself to remain relevant and competitive in high-paying fields.
2. Level up your subject knowledge
We’re currently living in the golden age of information thanks to the reach and abundance of knowledgable creators on the internet and social media, so there’s plenty you can learn outside of the rigid structure of a formal institution. Basically everything you can think of is accessible online, including how to become an ideal candidate in a self-led six figure career path.
Take advantage of high-quality, free programs hosted by Kahn Academy, MIT OpenCourseWare, or Google. With courses covering different aspects of marketing, business, and technology, you’re likely to find relevant education for your desired career path. Many of these even offer certificates that can carry a similar weight to having a degree when seeking employment.
You can enrich your free curriculum with educational blog posts on topics like business or SaaS, and if you’re ready to make a small investment with a big potential return, join dedicated, expert-led groups focused on the niche you want to pursue, so that you can learn and act in real-time alongside similarly driven individuals.
3. Try your hand at freelancing
We’re continuing to shift more towards a gig economy, with many companies and individual entrepreneurs favoring contracted workers to keep their business running smoothly. Platforms such as Upwork and Fiverr allow anyone to create a profile and offer a targeted service to a huge and hungry audience of people looking to hire skilled individuals to complete projects.
When you start out as a freelancer it is unlikely that you will be earning six-figures. However, this is just the first step in the process - remember, although you don't need a degree to get a high-paying job, you do need experience. You’ll need to be patient on this path, starting small to build yourself up before getting yourself to the point of landing consistent, high-paying gigs.
The good thing about freelancing is that you can train yourself fairly quickly to do specific projects and gain a good amount of experience while doing so. Examples of specific niche projects include landing page design, email marketing strategy, and project management software setup and integration.
4. Take on a traineeship
Some companies offer traineeship or apprenticeship programs that provide training to eventually get you to the level of being employed on a high-growth career track. By enrolling in and sticking with these programs, you’ll get put on track to enter full-time employment with a company that has already pre-vetted you through their proven program.
Examples include IBM and Google which both offer an apprenticeship that you can pursue to eventually gain employment even if you don’t have a degree. Look for programs that both pique your interest and cover high-paying fields like IT, cybersecurity, data engineering and project management.
5. Actively gain hands-on experience and network
While you won’t need a degree to land these top-dollar gigs, you will need hustle and networking skills to emerge as a desirable candidate. You can attend networking events or simply shoot your shot with cold DMs or emails, continuing to tweak your message to see what is working.
Throughout the whole process of reaching out to people, continue to grow your credibility with relevant experience from personal projects or past client work. Refine your portfolio to reflect your experience–a personal website showcasing your skills in the best light is worth making.
Remember that many of these high-paying opportunities will come through referrals or personal connections, so continue to be proactive in gaining hands-on experience while constantly growing your network in your area.
15 Six-Figure Jobs That Don’t Require a College Degree
Here are some of the best jobs you can take on with no degree required. Some of the following are more formal careers with a rigid role and salary, while others are more fluid and entrepreneurial in nature, but all have the potential to make you six or even seven figures.
1. Software engineer
Perhaps the first job that comes to mind with high earning potential is software engineering, and more companies and startups are open to hiring those without a formal degree.
As a software engineer, you’ll need to have attention to detail, patience, and the ability to learn how programming languages function and operate individually or in relationship to each other.
Some specific languages like Solidity for engineering on the blockchain aren’t thoroughly covered in four-year institutions, so those hiring for these lucrative positions prioritize real-world experience and past projects to a college degree. Coding bootcamps are an efficient alternative to a four-year degree and also often help with job placement.
Requirements: Fluency in at least one coding language, ability to successfully deploy and debug projects, curiosity and problem-solving skills combined with patience and persistence.
Average Salary: $90,000-120,000
High Salary: $250,000-$400,000+
2. Cybersecurity engineer
One of the fastest growing fields today is cybersecurity as there is a constant battle against protecting data and sensitive consumer information against hackers with malicious intent.
In this field, companies are often willing to hire those who have taken on self-education or certification such as the CompTIA Security+ certification without needing a degree as the field evolves quickly and priority is given to hands-on experience and up-to-date knowledge.
To increase your chances of getting hired, showcase relevant certifications in addition to building a portfolio of personal projects such as open-source contributions to security tools.
Requirements: Deep understanding of network security and internet protocols, knowledge of various operating systems and coding languages, ethical hacking skills and relevant certifications.
Average Salary: $90,000-$130,000
High Salary: $200,000-$300,000+
3. Ecommerce store owner
For those with an entrepreneurial spirit, a good sense of what and why consumers like to buy, and the willingness to take on the many roles required to launch and run an online store, becoming an ecommerce store owner is an attractive path to earning six figures.
When becoming an ecommerce store owner, you accept the responsibility of taking on the role of being the boss without needing to go through a hiring process. In reality, each customer is in a sense your boss and the “hiring process” is continuously iterating to find a product-market fit and increase conversion and profitability.
While it’s possible to strike gold and pace a six-figure annual profit fairly quickly, you should approach this role with patience and resilience as it takes constant testing and potentially restarting with brand new products, business models, or going at it again completely from scratch.
Requirements: Understanding consumer behavior, market trends, and product sourcing or creation combined with digital marketing skills and the ability to efficiently delegate and scale while persevering through ups and downs.
Average Salary: Highly variable, typically $40,000-$120,000
High Salary: $500,000-$1,000,000+
4. Trader
For those who are good with numbers, a level head, and the willingness to stomach the ride and risk of the sometimes ruthless market should consider becoming a trader.
As a trader, you can buy and sell almost any financial instrument, from more formal ones like stocks, bonds and forex to less regulated fields such as cryptocurrency.
You can gain experience straight away once you have your starting capital, and you can either continue to work for yourself on your own schedule or pitch yourself as a candidate for a fund or trading firm that will value experience greatly over a plain college degree.
In order to succeed and make money consistently, you need to learn about the markets in addition to your own mind–you don’t get paid unless you act by executing buy or sell orders while sticking to a plan without making the common mistake of succumbing to unhelpful emotions.
Requirements: Math and analytical skills, in-depth understanding of financial markets in multiple timeframes, building a tested strategy and having the mental fortitude to stick with it and stomach inevitable losses while remaining level-headed.
Average Salary: Extremely variable, some traders can lose money overall but those that develop a winning strategy can expect to make a modest or full time living of $60,000-$150,000
High Salary: $250,000-$1,000,000+
5. Freelance writer
For those who have a way with words, freelance writing can be an ideal and potentially lucrative career path. Clients in this field are mostly concerned with the quality of your writing combined with your expertise in specific areas, so formal education is in many cases an afterthought.
The path to earning six figures as a freelance writer requires specialization and experience, and you have the highest chance of getting paid higher rates if you specialize in lucrative niches like business, finance and technical writing.
You’ll also need to continue to improve your portfolio along with your negotiation skills and manage multiple clients. Copywriting, which is focused more on word choice than output, also has huge earning potential when applied to a high-reward area such as conversion rate optimization for a seven figure ecommerce company’s ads and landing pages.
Requirements: Excellent writing skills with the ability to adapt style to different audiences and formats, strong research skills, discipline and attention to detail.
Average Salary: $45,000-$80,000
High Salary: $90,000-$200,000+
6. Web developer
Another tech-focused career with high earning potential and more focus on a portfolio than a degree when it comes to landing work is web development.
As a web developer, your basic job is to create and maintain websites, but with so many free or economical platforms that can be used to do the same, you’ll have to stand out with unique functionality and visual appeal.
Today, people really only pay top dollar for a custom website, so in addition to listening to the client to make a bespoke manifestation of their vision, you’ll need to be well-versed in frontend coding languages such as HTML, CSS and Javascript at minimum. Additional understanding of languages with server-side and backeend functionality such as Python and PHP will put you in the realm of fullstack development, which has a higher pay rate.
Niching down with a specialty such as fluency in Liquid, Shopify’s coding language, and targeting high volume ecommerce owners can also help you land top-dollar gigs. You could even create a blog of your own and start earning a passive income.
Requirements: Proficiency in frontend, backend or fullstack development while meeting or exceeding client expectations in terms of visual appeal and functionality
Average Salary: $70,000-$90,000
High Salary: $150,000-$200,000+
7. UX designer
User Experience (UX) design is an expertise that focuses on making the entire experience of browsing an app or website as enjoyable and intuitive as possible. In this field, having a portfolio of successful projects with happy clients and tangible improvements such as increased session times and conversion rate is favored over having a degree.
One of the most important qualities of being a UX designer, apart from having a good sense of visual taste, is to be able to envision yourself as the user and understand and predict what you expect and react to while navigating pages of a mobile application or website.
In terms of the actual work, you’ll need to create wireframes, prototypes, and collaborate with developers to bring your visions to life. Top earning UX designers build data-backed strategies over time that are hyper-specific, such as CTA and navigation button color, placement, and design on an ecommerce mobile app.
Requirements: Proficiency in UX design tools such as Figma and Adobe InDesign in addition to strong design skills and data-backed understanding of user behavior
Average Salary: $70,000-$90,000
High Salary: $120,000-$150,000+
8. Consultant
In the field of consulting, specific expertise and measurable results often have more weight than formal education, especially if you’re working with independent clients.
To become a consultant without a degree, you need to build your expertise along with case studies. This often starts with yourself and a solo project or team you worked with as a success story to land initial clients.
Top earning consultants are highly analytical with strong problem-solving abilities, superior communication, and measurable results in areas that increase the bottom line.
Building a strong personal brand complete with social proof on platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube is a good way to find your target audience and future clients so you can earn as much as possible in this field.
Requirements: Expertise in a specific field or industry with a proven history of effective and data-backed decisions that increase the bottom line and profitability. Excellent and concise communication in all mediums from emails to in-person meetings is also incredibly important when it comes to deliverables.
Average Salary: $80,000-$100,000
High Salary: $200,000-$500,000+
9. Real estate agent
Becoming a real estate agent is often possible after getting certified and passing an exam, after which you’ll serve clients in the buying and selling of real estate. However, that’s only the start if your goal is to become a six-figure earner.
Having a solid understanding of the real estate market in specific regions in addition to strong negotiating skills and sharp decision making is the base that you’ll build from. Scaling to the consistency and price brackets to earn six figures is based mostly on who you know, and this network is earned over time. Focus on your reputation, wowing everyone you work with even on smaller deals so you can eventually make your way into high-ticket deals that pay fat commissions where you can even earn six figures in single deals.
Requirements: Real estate license, strong current and predictive grasp of regional real estate markets, negotiation and networking skills
Average Salary: $50,000-$100,000
High Salary: $250,000-$500,000+
10. Influencer
Social media has opened up the doors to becoming an influencer, a broad term that incorporates anyone who has built up a large enough loyal audience that often follows them for advice, including purchasing decisions. These influencers can be found earning money on single platforms or multiple platforms, from TikTok to Twitch and everywhere in between.
Success as a social media influencer boils down to effective and consistent content creation that resonates with a specific audience. Quality is more important than sheer volume, as the goal is to foster a loyal audience through genuine rapport.
With many avenues to monetization, such as partnership and promotional deals, selling digital products, and platform ad revenue share, you can reach six figure earnings as soon as your audience reaches a size and engagement that can vary drasticaclly by industry.
Requirements: Consistent creation of engaging content to a specific audience, understanding of social media tools, trends and user behavior.
Average Salary: Highly variable, $10,000-$80,000
High Salary: $500,000-$1,000,000+
11. Product Manager
Product management is a high-paying career field where practical skills, strategic thinking, and a track record often carries more weight than a formal education. Companies are open to hiring product managers without a degree if they demonstrate effective execution and decision-making abilities combined with a comprehensive understanding of the product development and launch processes.
As a product manager, you’ll need to be able to help orchestrate the entire cycle of a product from its ideation and early stages to a successful launch and potential iterations. Product managers are paid well because of their leadership and ability to make the most important decisions that move the needle and keep the whole company on track. In order to be one, you’ll need top skills in management combined with diverse knowledge surrounding the specific product, company, and market you’re working in.
Requirements: Strong leadership, analytical and decision-making skills combined with excellent communication and coordination of teams and processes to see through the entire life cycle of a product, complete with an understanding of the company and its market.
Average Salary: $90,000-$120,000
High Salary: $200,000-$300,000+
12. Online coach
Becoming a high-paid online coach doesn’t require a degree, and in many cases, flaunting your degree in this field can be seen as a distraction as potential clients care more about real-world experience and results.
Succeeding as an online coach requires clearly defining and displaying your expertise in a specific field in addition to coming up with creative monetization methods which can include one-on-one calls, digital products, private membership hosting or a combination of all of those and potentially more.
You also need to be great at creating a personal brand while resonating with a specific audience that is hungry to pay you to get them closer to the results that you have experience in. To keep the money flowing, you need to focus on building and showcasing client results.
Requirements: Clearly defined expertise and target audience, strong understanding of clients and the ability to display results and monetize through various methods while building social media presence.
Average Salary: $40,000-$70,000
High Salary: $100,000-$300,000+
13. Fitness instructor
While formal education isn’t a must, having yourself as a physical example along with certifications and a helpful attitude can get you to the top income brackets as a fitness instructor.
Once you have the experience, you can get started by joining a team at a gym so you can hone your skills and get results as you move on to the more lucrative practice of private instruction. Adding on other services such as meal planning and highly-customized programs and feedback can increase your earnings, as can gaining a following on a platform like YouTube or Instagram so you can potentially earn ad revenue and brand deals along with virtual clients.
Requirements: Visibly practice what you preach, relevant fitness certifications, comprehensive understanding of exercise science and nutrition with the ability to adapt to specific clients.
Average Salary: $45,000-$70,000
High Salary: $100,000-$300,000+
14. Digital marketing manager
Digital marketing is changing so quickly that most formal institutions simply aren’t able to offer programs that remain relevant up to getting a degree, so in this field, being on the pulse with self-education is of utmost importance.
Digital marketing managers are able to effectively get the word out about a brand, showcasing it in its best light and reaching audiences through creative methods that acquire new relationships and foster old ones.
With time, experience and results, you can become a fractional CMO (Chief Marketing Officer), which is an incredibly lucrative and flexible position that high-earning companies are always on the look for.
Requirements: Comprehensive mastery of different marketing methods and channels from paid to organic and specific platform expertise, strong analytical skills to make decisions based on data.
Average Salary: $80,000-$100,000
High Salary: $150,000-$300,000+
15. High-ticket affiliate marketer
When it comes to making large amounts of money, one of the most common approaches is to deal in larger numbers, opening up the doors to earn far more than someone selling something for less while doing the same amount of work. As an affiliate marketer, you could use the same strategies you used to promote a $200 product and instead promote a high ticket $2000 product and potentially make 10x more.
Affiliate marketing is 100% commission-based, so you’ll have to be good at reaching qualified customers to make your desired income, decoding key metrics like conversion rate and customer acquisition costs along the way. You’ll also need to take time to learn all about the product you’re selling, presenting yourself as an expert to your audience throughout the entire funnel and customer journey from discovery to sale.
Familiarity with ad campaigns and creative marketing strategies, such as deals with existing topical authorities in your product’s field, in addition to selling a high ticket item with a good commission can easily put you in the six-figure annual range.
Requirements: Understanding of product-market fit and the ability to reach a target audience in a cost-effective manner, strong copywriting, data analysis, design and persuasive communication skills, funnel building and maintenance.
Average Salary: $50,000-$90,000
High Salary: $150,000-$400,000+
Is it Really Possible to Earn 6 Figures with no Experience?
As we stated at the beginning of the guide, the first step to becoming a top earner is having the right mindset. Everyone in one of these previously listed fields or those in the realm of entrepreneurship who went on to earn six figures or more understood that they could achieve this goal without needing to take on the societally expected routes of doctor, lawyer or engineer.
While you don’t need formal experience in the form of a degree to earn six figures, you will need to gain real-life, hands-on experience so you emerge as an ideal candidate. This experience will require patience and persistence to gain but it can happen in a much faster timeframe in this digital era of entrepreneurship, with countless stories of sellers ending up with six or seven figure businesses well within the timeframe of a traditional education.
So, if you have the experience already or are willing to put the time in to gain it, continue with your positive mindset, viewing the world as an opportunist who sees any challenge as an opportunity to grow and every industry as a potential arena to become a top earner inside of in due time. There’s no need to sell yourself short or to slack on finding such opportunities as the market often rewards those that put themselves out there, framing themselves in the most positive light with real-world experience–even if you’re not at your ideal level, you might be more qualified to take on a high-paying role than you think, so why not go for it?
Launch Your 6 Figure Career with Whop
Career paths with the highest upside involve entrepreneurship, which allows you to create your own product and achieve scale to hit numbers that can significantly eclipse salaried employment. Additionally, making your own product can open up the door to earning passive income so you can make money while maintaining freedom.
One of the top winning formulas that savvy entrepreneurs are following to hit six or even seven figure levels is creating a digital product and launching it to a targeted audience–with the ability to quickly create your own corner of the internet with Whop.
Whop has made its creators a combined $450 million and counting–and with the continued uptrend in consumers choosing to support the creator economy, it’s still early.
Launching your very own product is quick and easy with Whop. From eBooks to private memberships, video courses, SaaS, and everything in between, you can cash in with your knowledge in a digital and highly scalable format and join the ranks of the savvy entrepreneurs leading the new economy of the internet.
All you need to get started is your store name and your winning idea, and when you’re ready, you can join Whop and take the first step as an digital entrepreneur.
