There is an age-long debate about if college degrees still matter. Those who are against it argue that they’re useless, and a waste of money. There are some who continue to support pursuing an education, saying that college prepares individuals for real-life skills that they’ll use in their careers. We were also recently hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to worldwide lockdowns and quarantine periods. These periods of isolation definitely affected the way we interact and learn now, especially for those who are young.
Now that we’re in an age where information and knowledge are much more accessible, more and more people are considering skipping college altogether. It might be more appealing to spend your time traveling the world, being with family, or just getting a headstart on your career. If you’re reading this right now, you may be asking: How do I make money without needing to go to college?
Let’s first get the misconception sorted: you can absolutely make money without going to college or formal education. It is 100% feasible for someone to land a high-paying job without needing a degree. However, the challenge is bringing this aspiration and determination into actual action.
In this article, we’ll outline what steps you can take to grow your skill sets and prepare you for a fulfilling career, without needing a formal college education.
Here are 3 steps to making money without going to college
- Establishing your niche and business ideas
Every person has their own unique set of skills and interests. Regardless if you have a formal education, everyone has this. Before thinking of any business ventures or hustles to make money, you will need to first determine what your niche is.
Your niche is basically the field you have the most interest in and knowledge in. If you’ve spent your life working with cameras because your family is interested in them, you can profit from this. Not everyone knows how to work a camera, fix a camera, or determine what are the best decisions to make when buying a camera. So, you can use this expertise and find a way to make money off of it.
This applies to every other kind of field as well. If your interest is in writing, website design, illustration, business, or anything else, there is a definite way to make a fortune out of it.
After figuring out your niche, you need to determine how you’re going to use your skillset to make money. You can choose to find employment under an existing company, freelance, or make your own business.
- Establishing your platforms
Now that you have your niche and business idea, it’s time to start working on establishing your platform. Your platform will be the basis for finding clients and publicizing your services to the world.
If you want to freelance: offering your services without permanently being employed under a business, you can either join freelancing sites such as Fiverr or Upwork. These platforms allow you to either post or search for job openings according to your interests. If you want to start your own service or business, there are sites like Etsy where you can share your own products.
If you want to be a bit more ambitious, you can start your own blog and website, where potential clients can contact you.
It’s also important to have social media platforms such as LinkedIn or Glassdoor if you’re interested in finding internships or jobs under companies.
- Form your connections
Now that you’ve established your platforms, the last step is making connections. Connections don’t have to be employers or clients. They can be people who are willing to share your services or go around your local neighborhood to promote it. Connections are also people who work in the same field as you: those who can give advice on helping you earn money, and even provide job openings or training opportunities.
There is no one place where you can find connections. This step requires you to ‘put yourself out there’ by looking for platforms where you can find people in common with you. Use social media platforms available to you, and be creative in looking for things in common with your relatives, past high school classmates, or friends of friends of friends.
What careers or jobs can I have without a college degree?
There are all kinds of jobs that you can have without needing a college degree. However, you will need to acquire certain skills on your own before establishing your work and name.
Here are some jobs that you can do to make money without a college degree
Freelancer
As we mentioned before, freelancing is a greatly viable option for making a lot of money without needing to go to college. There are all kidneys of jobs that you can do as a freelancer, some more laborious and technical than others. You can check out this article on some small Fiverr freelancing jobs you can consider trying!
Virtual Assistant
If you’re tech-savvy and interested in organization, it’s possible that being a virtual assistant is for you! As a virtual assistant, you will be helping out company employees accomplish tasks like writing emails, scheduling meetings, and taking down notes.
Blogger
As a blogger, you’ll get to write blog posts about anything in your interest. Though it’s a bit more difficult to get popularity and traction on your blog without experience, it’s a way to work while having full control over your ideas and creativity.
As a blogger, you can earn money through sponsorships, brand deals, and affiliate marketing.
Content Creator
With sites like YouTube, Twitch, and TikTok, content creation is all the rave right now. As a content creator, you can choose to make either short or long-form videos, or even hour-long streams, doing activities and telling stories about what you’re passionate about. From gaming to technology, to music, art, and everything else under the sun, you can make a video out of it–and most importantly, earn from it.
Dropshipping and E-Commerce
If you’re more of an entrepreneur and business person, you can think about starting your own dropshipping business, where you won’t have to make your own products. You can, of course, choose to start your own business from scratch if you’re passionate about a certain cause or product.
These kinds of businesses are difficult to start, given how many are giving it a try. With hard work, and some trial and error, you can make a lot of money without needing a college degree.
Tutorial services
If you’re passionate and knowledgeable about a particular topic, you can use your knowledge to teach others. You can choose to offer tutorial services for the usual academic subjects like Math, English, and Science, but you can branch out and think of other services. You can choose to give singing lessons or coach students in different sports!
Pursuing an education is definitely important. It’s a way to prepare anyone and everyone for the experiences they’ll have in the future. However, know that formal education is not needed. It’s better to make smart choices in life and to make use of available resources to succeed.
