Today on MoneyLife with Chuck Bentley

We're going to talk today about careers that don’t require a college education. A number of students aren’t going to a traditional four-year college these days.

There's tremendous expense going to a four-year school, and it gets many students and their parents into financial bondage. People are looking for alternative ways to be able to fulfill their purposes in life.

I'm big on education, and always recommend getting more if you can afford it. A Christian education is especially valuable.

I'm going to talk today about some of the careers you can pursue without a college degree, but data still shows a college education increases your lifetime earning power, and increases it with each advanced degree earned.

People who own a small business typically do better than people who work for wages. So if you have or gain a skill that requires technical training, professional certification, or apprenticeship, once you get really good at it, you can use it to start a business. Many of the top-paying occupations don’t require a college education. We're going to look closely at those jobs today.

Forty-four percent of jobs in America are available to people with a high school education or less. By 2016, there will be 71 million jobs like that. People assume those are low-paying jobs but that’s not true.

We have lots of listeners going through job changes. I know of a a body shop manager that started sweeping floors and now earns the equivalent of two salaries. It proves what the Bible teaches, that anyone who works hard will be rewarded for it. Hard work is more important than a college education.

Here are 20 of the highest paying jobs that don’t require a college degree according to CareerBuilder's Salary Survey:

1. Margin Department Supervisor – oversee a company’s credit department, $83,579/year
2. Air Traffic Controller – manage airplanes taking off and landing at airports, very stressful, $74,922/year
3. Automobile Service Station Manager – supervise convenience stores, $72,246/year
4. Real Estate Broker – securing real estate transactions, selling real estate, renting properties, arranging loans, licensing required, can start your own business and employ other agents, $71,994/year
5. Web Surfer – scouring the Internet as an employee of company to do research/analysis, need to be technologically savvy, $70,604/year

Parents, you need to study your children and try to discern what God designed them to do. Pay attention to their behavior, and try to figure out what really excites them. Just because they’re not good students doesn’t mean they’re not gifted and can’t have successful careers.

Parents need to understand their children and help them find what God has equipped them to do. You can have unrealistic expectations academically and think they're good at every subject. Bill Gates and Michael Dell were two very successful guys who didn’t get a college degree. They were passionate about the work they were doing.

Be sensitive to how God has wired your children. Encourage them to be who God created them to be. Don’t focus only on how they fit into academia. You need to observe your children but also consider using an assessment tool. With Career Direct, you can take the assessment online, print out the results, and discuss them with trusted advisors. Many people have been blessed by it. It's a great investment.

Here are more good paying careers that don't require a college education:

6. Lead Carpenter – leading the on-site completion of construction projects for a company, also can be a handyman, $63,345/year
7. Cable supervisor – people who oversee the installation of cable, $60,887/year
8. Chemical supervisor – oversee workers who make chemical products, $57,472/year
9. Home Care Aide Supervisor – oversee medical care at home, $56,157/year
10. Medical Facility Housekeeping Manager – oversee housekeepers at a hospital, $55,368/year
11. Flight Service Manager – oversee flight attendants for an airline, $54,350/year
12. Locomotive Engineer – drive trains, $54,084/year
13. Interior Aircraft Assembly Manager – supervising the assembly of airplane interiors, $53,606/year
14. Painting Supervisor – overseeing all painting activities, $51,977/year
15. Gas Plant Operator – maintain pressure in natural gas pipelines, $51,676/year
16. Payroll Supervisor – managing employees working on company payroll, $51,410/year
17. Assembly Supervisor – overseeing workers who use power tools to assemble products, $50,462/year
18. Credit and Collection Supervisor – supervising employees reviewing credit risk and involved in collections, $50,330/year
19. Data Control Supervisor – managing date entry workers, $50,310/year
20. Reimbursement Recovery Specialist – negotiating cases where third-party liability exists, $49,246/year

Many of these jobs are supervisor roles. Good supervisors have good character and can get along with other people. Those skills are transferable to many careers that don’t require a college education.

There are many things you can do without a college education, a wide range of jobs. You're only limited by what your gifted in and how hard you’re willing to work. The Bible teaches us to be excellent at whatever we do.

When you get out there and work hard on a job, God will bless you. The Bible says there are two keys to success in any career:

1. Have a plan, know what you’re good at and figure out how to use it
2. Be diligent, keep trying, learning, applying yourself

If you’re in a job transition, don’t feel defeated because you don’t have the same education as others. God created you to do something well. Find out what it is and do it.

Choosing the Right Vocation

In choosing a vocation, Christians must weigh their priorities very carefully. When people are out of God’s priorities, they are out of His will.

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Dealing with lay off is not pleasant, but look at the lay off as an opportunity that can be conquered.

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Making Career Decisions

Most Americans need to unlearn the errors and then learn the truth regarding career decisions.

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Work as Unto the Lord

Being God’s emissary on the job is not difficult; it’s impossible. Only by yielding our rights to Him can the world get a glimpse of Him through us.

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Other Resources:

• ABCs of Money Package
• Career Direct
• God's Principles for Operating a Business
• Business By the Book
• Crown Mvelopes