Jobs without a degree

Eurox6

Just wondering in the current landscaper what would be the best jobs to get into that don't requite a degree

In my early 30's looking to change career path & do something different,

Iv worked in transport for 10 years & have a few course done in it but want to do something totally different ,

Where can you make good money these days without a degree ?

What are your interests?

Eurox6

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120438721#Comment_120438721

At this stage i don't mind what kind of job as long as it makes decent money & is Monday to Friday work ,

Or is there even something you could do a night course in that would lead to making a decent wage .

I was asking more to help you identify job areas to look at. There are lots of jobs that don't require degrees, but some experience will be required. I dont have a degree, but messing with computers was my hobby as a teenager. First job was in Tech Support. now Im an IT Consultant.

Mrs OBumble

What do you regard as a decent wage?

You are really limiting yourself by saying Mon-Fri only.

Eurox6

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120438842#Comment_120438842

Lets say 50 grand a year

I'd prefer not to but of course id still do it,

homosapien91

Unless you have experience in a particular area the only way to do it is to start from the bottom and work your way up - thats my experience anyway. I dont have a degree, started off as an office junior, gained experience and got promoted over the years so now I am in a decent paying role in purchasing with the same company

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120438897#Comment_120438897

No such thing as a free lunch, unless you're well connected and know the right person who'll give you a handy number.

Most employers want productivity and value from their employees.

Eurox6

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120438936#Comment_120438936

Nobody's looking for a free lunch , i'm looking for somewhere i can go work hard & make a decent wage,

Augme

Sales would be my suggestion, something that has commission.

Given your current situation, walking into a job with a gross wage of €50k per year will be almost impossible.

If you where willing give yourself 5 years to work towards that I woukd suggest civil service if you didn't want to get a degree.

weisses

What about landscaping ?

If you’ve market researched an idea well, have acumen in your area of interest and a “business head” on you, you can employ yourself in many areas without a degree. If you’ve not got a business head, forget that idea. Most of the financially successful people in the world started very small, but had a singularity of purpose such that nothing that would befall them deterred them from following an oath to that particular metric of success.

Eurox6

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120438989#Comment_120438989

Do you mean my own company or go work for someone

Creamy Goodness

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120439413#Comment_120439413

Would have to be for yourself (no one walks into a landscape job for 50k especially with zero experience) but that being said it's going to be difficult. You'll need to be good and possibly have to subsidise building your portfolio as no one will hire a landscaper without asking for pictures of previous work. Also it's a manual labour job and needs to be taken seriously, one injury/pulled muscle you could be right back to square one.

Also I feel like you're looking for somewhat of a unicorn; if there was plentiful jobs around paying 50k with no experience/degree required majority of them would be snapped up already.

EIapprentice

Not Monday-Friday but a shift role in a pharma or medical devices would be a great shout IMO, Money for jam and plenty of opportunity to upskill if you're that way inclined.

HBC08

Painter,

No degree needed,little bit of practice and youtube vids.

You'll always have work and be able to chose your hours to a certain extent.

Terrier2023

dog grooming is very lucrative 120 euro to groom my dog and i had to wait 4 weeks for the appointment average small dog 40/45, doing 4 /6 dogs per day !

billyhead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120440804#Comment_120440804

Plus a lot of them probably get paid cash in hand.

Jim2007

Any job that is low entry in terms of qualifications and training is also one that can come under pressure and probably not a long term bet. Use it as a starting point to up skill to something else.

Deja Boo

Not so long go, insurance was lucrative without a degree.

Particularly Commercial Insurance (sales and/or service), if I had to choose one division.

Manufacturing Technician in Pharma or Components. Training will be provided. Pretty good money.

Mrs OBumble

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120438972#Comment_120438972

Without a degree, I don't think you'll get beyond 40-ish k per year in the civil service.

apkmbarry

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120445661#Comment_120445661

Did you look that up, or just pull numbers out your backside? Because it's out by about 20k at least. By getting one single promotion to EO and just staying there, you're looking at 55k at the top end of the scale. HEO doesn't require a degree as far as I'm aware either, as they're internally recruited. Which pushed it even higher.

Mrs OBumble

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120447532#Comment_120447532

I've not met a single EO appointed within the last 10 years who doesn't actually have a degree.

Sure, it's not technically needed in the job-spec. But in reality, it's very hard to get now, as they have deliberately tried to raise the workforce quality.

apache

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120440865#Comment_120440865

That's very true. Costs me €60 and have to book well in advance. But the rent of the place would be very expensive I'd say.

Augme

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120445661#Comment_120445661

I know HEOs without a degree and a few APs. HEO should certainly be attainable without one.

apache

Some well paid public Service jobs. You just need a leaving cert and can earn up to €70,000.

Fr Tod Umptious

The problem with not having a degree is that no matter what job you get you will only progress so far without it.

Let's say you get a job in a factory on a production line, you do well and are promoted to supervisor, then team lead or whatever the next level up is

Then the job for higher than team lead comes up.

But now you are in bother because Mary who is also a team lead is also going for it, and she has a degree and is just as good as you at the job.

You will miss out.

So no matter what job you find OP, also try find time to get a degree, or at least some further education, it will do you no harm.

Jim2007

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120449028#Comment_120449028

Right because there will be no one else better qualified and your leaving cert is highly valued......

The reality is that there are plenty of well qualified people in the public services, with good people skills and well capable of playing office politics competing for the well paying jobs and your leaving cert just gets you in the door, not a seat at the top table.

Padre_Pio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120440804#Comment_120440804

Painting, tiling, decorating.

Low setup costs, decent pay right out of the gate, cash jobs, work to suit your lifestyle. Start out with friends and family in the evenings and weekends to get the hang of it, then use them to advertise locally for you.

Work hard, get a good reputation, hire a few young lads to help you out.

Galwayguy35

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120440804#Comment_120440804

Most people want a painter who has experience and can show they did quality work in previous jobs if they are going to pay them to paint their house.

apache

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120449203#Comment_120449203

Long service Gardai and Prison service being an example. Your example dosen't hold water there. They aren't looking just for people who talk the talk and your qualifications are relevant how?

apkmbarry

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120448991#Comment_120448991

I came in on EO level, but I have a degree. I've had two friends who went in at CO, and progressed to EO at the two year mark, neither with degrees. But there's no reason why they couldn't have come in at EO level, they just didn't have any management experience of any kind.

HBC08

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120449242#Comment_120449242

Most people will take anybody who's available as has been the case for the last few years and will be for the next few.

Galwayguy35

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120449444#Comment_120449444

I seriously doubt that, painters are expensive and nobody is going to pay some cowboy with no experience in case he makes a mess of the job.

Padre_Pio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120449493#Comment_120449493

Experience is easy to get. Just paint your own house and your family and friends. All the tutorials are on Youtube. Paint and tools are cheap enough. Then take a few pictures, snazzy them up for an Instagram profile and there you go!

We got quotes to paint our house, 120sqm, nothing fancy and it was 900 in labour alone.

Eurox6

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120449085#Comment_120449085

I guess the trick is to change job to one with decent entry level pay & while your working try get yourself a degree in area that will help you prpgress in the job ,

Im not against doing one after work hours ,just a lot of my 20's i worked hard & got a decent wage but never looked towards the future,

Iv never been on the dole in my life as iv enjoy working hard ,i just regret not going to college now

kirving

Think of your choice here as a path into a long term career, not just a job with decent pay.

What do you have natural aptitude for? What area are you interested in? Finance, Logistics, Engineering, Manufacturing, Tourism, Marketing, Logistics, a Trade, Car Sales, Government, Teaching, Tech?

For a country with relatively cheap Third Level education, Ireland tends to overvalue (IMO) college degrees. I work in engineering, and despite some of my colleagues having a ton of experience, their lack of a Level 8 degree holds them back career wise, so many have gone back to study at night.

Guffy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120449017#Comment_120449017

I know an AP who went from CO to AP in about 5/6 years, no degree.

2011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120449242#Comment_120449242

That is not true. There is an unbelievable demand for painting, tiling and “general handyman” type work that is very lucrative.

Painting isn’t rocket science. I have done loads of it. I taught my partner how to paint when doing our house. After a day or two she was an expert. The only difference between ours and a professionals work was the cost!

I remember starting my own electrical contracting business (I don’t do this work anymore). I couldn’t show clients what I had done before. Never had any problem getting work. It’s all word of mouth.

GNWoodd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120449028#Comment_120449028

Very few public servants earning that kind of money .

There are public servants with thirty years experience earning 45 to 50 k

Count Dracula

Do a History degree. You will learn something relevant.

Or study English for 3 years. Learn poems and wisdom, you will need those things when you are trying to carve out a living.

Don't join the Civil Service as an employee after you are 30. The real lifers will never take to you, and you will spend 20 years of your working life getting patronised by wasters. Granted you will get a guaranteed pension, heart trouble from eating free, over salted sandwiches and the added bonus of not being listened to, or worse still, blatantly undermined, by a clique of gormless arseholes who have the entire job sown up. Those dicks are all over it. But if you are not in by 30 forget about it. They will exclude you from everything, they couldn't have you showing them up. They will get you subtly as a wack over the head with a claw hammer. Exclude you from strategy meetings. Only loop you in on the away day at the last minute. Minimum pay rises, with massive scrutiny, wait till you start getting marginalised for doing good work. Last offer on summer holidays, you get the picture?

If you really want to see how the civies bum our euros, you need to get yourself into HR consulting. That is where all the smart leaches are. Faffing around seminars in Gothenburg, liaising with the Anderson Group think tank. Rolling out "The Proactive Reform Employment Strategy" or ... PRES every 5 years. That is where some SEO on 92 grand a year gets a 7 grand golf trip from his wife's lover, who also happens to have a real job in the private sector on Hardcore street. This is where the Civil Servants get their useless asses oiled up for a hammering bigtime. I love it when they start reclassifying the expense code from Legal Fees to Appointment Costs... to Appropriation Costs... to Staff Enrollment fund ....... as opposed to calling it 7 figures of consulting fees every 12 months to buffer the coffers of the private sector. At least someone is getting paid?

If you can handle being a Yacht Club bore, you might have at least half a chance of making it on Hardcore street. You can tag along in your local GAA, Golf or Rugby club. As long as you can handle the drama of all that. But you will need to do those things, or the bores will classify you as an odd ball and start spreading ugly rumours about you.... the Hardcore Street rumour mill resembles the attrition incurred by the poor men of the Maginot line in WW1. It is a constant spat of Irish Times readers talking shight about sports stars they are acquainted with, whilst spewing lies about the time such and such ...and such and such rode the hole off each other during the Microsoft Audit in 2015. It never stops. Throw in the Insurance tyrants, who btw I read some drone above ... recommending a degree course for ? What? as the mighty John McEnroe often cranked " you cannot be serious? " .... I learnt about insurance and all its many made up rules when I was 14 years old in Bus Org class, before the Junior Cert was even conceived, back when you could get the bus to London from Busaras 7 nights a week... back when you could buy a bag of apples for a quid. Or when WANG computers existed.

Do History or English ... or if you have the aptitude a LANGUAGE or a SCIENCE. Do something useful, for YOUR future , trust me on this, NOBODY ELSE WILL , believe me please mortals. I might spend all afternoon crying in my lair, but I see it all , every bit of it.

Easter Eggs are the price of 2-3 pints. If there was to be a revoutlion in Ireland, I would line up all those overpaid pen pushing Gout maligned excuses for 157k a year and a pension and a clothing allowance that no ones ever talks about.... and make them eat every Easter Egg on the island in one revolting gag induced sitting, just to show them what it is like to have to witness their meaningless, meddling existence every hour of the day? The same stooges spend more time sniggering at knackers and negligently educated compatriots, than they actually do running the country for the 7 and a half hours they are supposed to a day?

Enjoy your studies, I would recommend analysing the myth of Grainne Mhaol and the feasibility of her actually being Elizabeth Tudor in disguise. Stanger things have happened.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120452340#Comment_120452340

Which Department had the misfortune of putting up with your thirty year old self Count? I suspect that it was your lamentable personal hygiene and inability to comprehend basic instructions that led to your ostracisation.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120449025#Comment_120449025

A better option would be to avail of the educational supports available to get a degree while working, or a similarly valuable professional qualification, law, accounting, banking- dependent on what area you are working in.

mrslancaster

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058291043/jobs-without-a-degree

If you have 10 years experience and already have some qualifications in transport, is there some other sector where that would be useful? Just so you dont need to start at entry level again. A lot of skills are transferable and your courses may have credits that could be counted towards other qualifications if you're considering further study.

Can you give an idea of what you did before as transport is very broad and what other areas you might be interested in. Also, do you want a job or would you be interested in being self-employed.

Juwwi

You can't just decide to become a Painter over night by practicing painting your own house or family , for one thing he'd be much slower than an experienced painter so even if he charges the same as what professionals are charging he will be only be earning half what they earn if he's taking twice as long .

If the OP could afford to do it by getting a job with a painter to learn the trade and then sticking that job for a year he would then have the experience to get his own van and advertise for work. The same could be done with a tiler also , tiling is probably better paid than painting .

As for jobs with no degree that are well paid , chimney sweeps seem to earn a decent wage from what l can see , the guys who come out to unblock a drain are charging €120 nowadays per job .

Depending on where he's based becoming a Taxi Driver is another option .

mrslancaster

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120452401#Comment_120452401

Agree, if I was paying top dollar for a professional painter/tiler/landscaper etc and got a handyman instead then I wouldnt be happy or recommending that service.

OTOH, if it was a handyman/residential property service who could do a lot of non-trade jobs like garden tidy-ups, power washing, window cleaning, garden fence and shed painting, minor tiling or carpentry and other small things, then that service would be like gold-dust imo.

I know lots of people who would be delighted to find a reasonable cost local service to do handyman jobs. Man with a van services are always busy as well.

OP hasnt said if they want to be employed or be self employed.

justmehere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058291043/jobs-without-a-degree

Politics.

You don't even need a qualification. Even having a criminal record related for drug use and littering is no barrier! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luke_%27Ming%27_Flanagan

Jim2007

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120452582#Comment_120452582

Oh you absolutely need qualifications, a fallback career option and deep pockets.... And the qualifications are much more difficult to acquire than a college degree. Many people stand for election, most fail and those the succeed have often had to work for 10 - 20 years to get to a point where they can go 'professional'.

pgj2015

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120452582#Comment_120452582

Littering 🤣 you make it sound like he was caught dumping a lorry load of old tires down a country lane.

RurtBeynolds

Why not just get a degree? You have another 35 years of working ahead of you, minimum. A 4 year degree (or apprenticeship) will be over in no time, and then many more doors are open for you. s nothing, Can be done part-time/evenings etc.