Ask HN: What other good careers exist for those without a college education?

I know some people who sell cars and don’t have a college degree but pull in close to six figures. They enjoy it but they also work for higher end dealerships and get to take fun cars (like a brand new WRX STI...) for a spin sometimes.

Cooking or baking is another option. Some great chefs out there never graduated from college or culinary school.

Running a business also doesn’t require a college degree. My wife owns a café and never graduated from college.

It is best to find something else, especially if you are a male. It is essential for tech companies to make sure women consist of at least 51% of the executive level and the same for the non-executive staff. As you know male domination of technology is why there isn't much innovation anymore, men created a toxic world with technology and now women must clean it up and run it properly. 2019 is the year of women.

Depending on where you are, a tugboat captain can clear $500k/year, and you'll have a 6 figure pension when you retire. Other hands on jobs that have lots of overtime potential (e.g. police or fire department, oil, welding, etc) can also pay really well depending on your level.

The illusion of the requirement for a College Education to get a high paying job in any field is starting to diminish. Now Yes, it will be a bit harder to get a job when your competition has 6 Masters degrees and 2 PHDs. All a degree tells a potential employer is that you are supposed to know the degree field. It isn't ordinary for employers to give you a test to determine your knowledge, that's why everything on the Resume is vital and a degree usually stands out above the rest. With that out of the way, Especially when it comes to IT, most companies look for experience. Light up your resume with the experience in Ruby (or any other knowledge you have) and pound on it, sell it to the employter that you know what you're doing even more so than Joe Smith with his 90+ Degrees. I highly doubt that the demand for IT will go down in any field. If that is the case; You can always learn Welding (which will require a very short technical school,about 3-6 months for the price of a few paychecks dependending on where you live) Construction is also a decently simple field to get into and its usually union with very.. very high paying opportunities along with the self satisfaction of building structures to be used for years. But I recommend staying IT, Many other companies have a plentiful amount of openings in IT though it may not be Software Developers, Your experience so far will help you honestly find any door in Information Technology regardless of a degree.