No Degree? No Problem!

Last week, I shared some thoughts on the UPS worker’s strike - you can check my thoughts out here and here. 

The reality is that people deserve to make a great living wage regardless of their education level.

So this week, I wanted to share some career paths that pay well and offer opportunities for growth, but don’t require a degree.

Fields where many people are self taught

These are some fields where many people build their skills through certifications, bootcamps, or other online courses. Coursera is one option to check out and they typically offer a free month which is long enough to gain a certification if you’re focused!

UX/UI: while there are some degree programs in this area, many people move into UX/UI (user experience/user interfaces) through bootcamps or are otherwise self taught. Salaries typically start around $75-85k.

Salesforce Administrator: Salesforce is widely used and highly customizable which means there are tons of opportunities for people to earn 6-figure salaries setting up or administering Salesforce. They even help you get started with a free course called Trailhead (though many people do end up taking paid courses to have more support learning the content.

Data Analytics: Although many people do get degrees in data, many people are able to very successful in this field through learning data analytics on their own. My friend Jess Ramos frequently shares tips on building a career in data and teaches a SQL course on LinkedIn Learning (which you can access for free with a trial to LinkedIn Premium)! Data Analysts typically start their careers around $70-80k!

Technical Support: Technical Support Specialists have a strong customer support orientation, but build on this by helping people learn to use products effectively. These roles typically don’t require a degree and provide training on the product. And they can unlock a lot of opportunities within a company - technical support specialists can move into sales or customer success, or even more technical roles like support engineering. Salaries typically start in the $55-65k range.

Tech Sales: There are lots of training programs that will help you learn the ropes of tech sales, and provide an internship. One that I’ve hired from is SV Academy which actually focuses on people from underrepresented backgrounds. While base salaries can start lower for roles like BDR, the growth potential is great for these roles!

Companies without degree requirements

Lots of companies have dropped these requirements as well!

Here’s a list of companies that used to require degrees but no longer do. And here’s another one.

Also look for newer tech companies - many legacy companies hold on to these requirements for longer than necessary but a company started in the last few years may not have ever held these requirements to begin with!

And some final thoughts on job hunting without a degree

1. Don’t disqualify yourself when you see degree preferred or even required. I used to work in education where degrees were required for many roles, but made several hires that didn’t have a degree. Often, companies may be more flexible behind the scenes. Apply, and ask in the interview about the reasoning for the requirement. You may find that they are more flexible than you’d think!

2. List your coursework, but leave the years off. If you’ve taken any courses, you deserve credit for that, and often, that may be enough to show you have some unique knowledge. The actual degree may not matter.

3. Consider other ways to show your experience. List certifications, awards, and other achievements. Create a portfolio showing off your work.

4. IOften, a company just assumes someone with a degree can stick to their goals for a long period or time or has some specialized knowledge. But you can show this through many other methods!

Finally, don’t get discouraged! There are lots of opportunities and career paths out there for people regardless of degree status - I hope this helps spark some ideas of launching your own path!

👀 Here’s some interesting stuff in my world! 👀

🤳 If you signed up for the $5 AI headshots giveaway last week, you should have gotten a link from Marko Jak with Secta AI to get yours done! And if you missed this, today is the last day for the 25% off for my community (use this link - there are a few hours left).

🎙 I recently did a podcast with my friends from Teal! Check it out here.

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I recently kicked off a new partnership with Ramped - they have an awesome suite of free resources. And they are offering my community 20% off on their managed application service - check out more info here.

🙋Answering Your Questions🙋

Each week, I’ll answer a few of your questions in this section. You can submit your questions here.

I’m so sorry to hear you were affected by layoffs, and I know it’s especially difficult now, with such a tough job market, and with being in HR which has been hit particularly hard by layoffs.

A couple of thoughts for you, and others in this position:

1. Make sure your LinkedIn is really selling you - much like a resume would. Share key achievements and impact under the experience section. Make sure that your profile is working for you to attract recruiters and hiring managers. (I have a free guide here that can help).

2. Get flexible around the types of jobs you’re open to. If you’re only targeting remote roles, consider hybrid and on site roles. Get flexible on industries and maybe even consider lower level roles. You might even pivot to other areas - for example, look at sales or customer success with HR products you’ve used - since you’re an expert at using the product, you could be a great match at helping others use it too! You may not land your dream job now, but this might speed up the process. Once you land an opportunity, you can always keep looking for something better but that might expand what’s available to you.

3. Make sure you’re networking. Post regularly about your work and perspectives on HR to help show your credibility and what you can add to a company. Reach out to people for networking chats. This will help get more people who might drop your name when an opening arises that could be a good match.

Hope this helps - I know it’s discouraging when hiring is slow as we’re seeing right now but things will turn around soon as they always do. Good luck!

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The In-Flight Amenities 🍱

Each week, I share job openings within my network and a featured jobseeker that I hope we can all support in their job search.

Jobs you need to check out:
Zapier is hiring as always!
A friend in the talent space is looking for a few developers to support an AI tool he’s building in the talent space. Connect with him here!
Here’s a solid opportunity for my friends in HR with experience in compensation!
Here are a whole bunch of opportunities (several sales roles and a few others) a recruiter buddy just posted in the cybersecurity industry!
Great recruiting manager role here (if you get this job, I’m expecting a free milkshake!)
I saw this post with lots of opportunities for my transitioning educator friends!
I’ve also got some jobs posted on Twitter!
And as always, I share jobs regularly in my Talent Collective! (If you’d like to share jobs, we’d love to have you!)

A jobseeker you need to hire: Meet Dana Sayre!
I have 10+ years of experience across arts, business, education, healthcare, and non-profit sectors. I have a history of working for mission-driven organizations that are working to further social justice. I am a subject matter expert (SME) on LGBTQ+ and Disability issues. I am currently self-employed and looking to leverage my skills and experience to make a larger impact.

My unique blend of skills and experience could be an asset to a variety of different roles. I am interested in a mid-level role that blends people-focused work with independent projects and research. My interpersonal and relationship skills could be an asset within People Operations, Program Coordination, Learning & Development, and Team Management. My experience would also be an asset within organizations that prioritize DEI. I am pursuing fully remote roles only at this time but might consider a hybrid role at an organization that is still taking COVID-19 precautions.

Think you might have a role that’s a good fit for Dana, or be able to help make a connection? Add her on LinkedIn, and let’s get Dana hired!

Interested in having your story shared? Sign up here!

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