Graduates of school of life can cash in

“It’s pronounced nucular” ... A high school diploma is all you need to become a nuclear power plant operator in the US. Source: Fox

It is well-known that some of the most successful entrepreneurs never went to university – or they flunked out.

There are so many of these unaccredited stars, that it almost seems to be a disadvantage to have the degree and the letters after your name.

Some of them – like Bill Gates of Microsoft, Steve Jobs of Apple and Sean Parker of Facebook – may have been too clever for the slow pace of university learning. Others learned on the job and went to the “university of life”.

On home soil, it is hard to credit that Kerry Packer, Kerry Stokes, or Gina Rinehart would have done any better if they had been studying, rather than building their business empires.

In the US, 63 people on the Forbes 400 rich list never finished their degree.

All of this is very cheery news to those who, for one reason or another, never progressed their schooling beyond high school.

The man behind Teasure Island Casinos, Phil Ruffin, is reportedly worth $US2.4 billion ($2.3 billion). He told Forbes that no-one makes money being a wage slave.

“The advice I would give to young people? Quit your job. Don’t work for anybody. You really can’t make any money working for someone else,” he told Forbes.

But, maybe you are not entrepreneur material. There’s nothing wrong with that, but you can still make a very decent living if you choose the right job.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics has provided a list of 80 high-paying occupations that don’t require a bachelor’s degree - more than 60 percent of workers in that country don’t have one.

An associate’s degree, a post secondary non-degree award, or a high school certificate-level qualification can still land a high-paying job.

According to a story in Business Insider, some of the best in the US are:

1. Air traffic controllers: $108,040, associate’s degree required.
2. General and operations managers: $94,400, associate’s degree and 1-5 years’ of work experience.
3. Construction manager: $83,860, associate’s degree, more than five years’ experience.
4. Transportation, storage, and distribution managers: $80,210, high school diploma, more than five year’s experience.
5. First-line supervisors of police and detectives: $78,260, high school diploma, one to five years’ experience.
6. Radiation therapist: $74,980, associate’s degree, no work experience required.
7. Administrative services managers: $77,890, high school diploma, one to five years’ experience.
8. Nuclear power reactor operators: $75,650, high school diploma, no work experience.
9. Elevator installers and repairers: $70,910, high school diploma, no work experience.
10. Power distributors and dispatchers: $68,900, high school diploma, no work experience.

Thinking of dropping out? These 10 billionaires didn’t complete a university degree.

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