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You don't necessarily need to go to college to make big bucks. PayScale.com ran the numbers and found these 6 jobs where top performers can earn $100,000 or more a year without a bachelor's degree.
Fire Chief
 (Courtesy: Mark Miller) |
| Mark Miller is the fire chief in Vail, Colo. |
Top pay: $121,000
Median pay: $72,900
Almost nobody rises to the top of a fire department without first putting in many years of dedicated fire fighting. But because competition for these jobs is fierce, it's not uncommon for younger chiefs to have some college education. Still, the job is open to skilled firefighters with only a high school degree.
"So much is based on your leadership skills and your management skills and not necessarily whether you have a degree," says Vail, Colo. Fire Chief Mark Miller. "Anything can happen. You try to manage what is within your control."
After juggling a dozen calls a day in addition to administrative duties that include building new stations, staffing and the budget, Miller says that "there is no greater reward than to literally save someone's life." But, he adds, "I also get a tremendous reward out of the simple day-to-day things, a wild fire where your preventative actions probably saved hundreds of homes or just helping someone get into their car when their baby is locked inside. Those simple things are often overlooked but that's what keeps you going."
Air Traffic Controller
 (Courtesy: Jim Marinitti) |
| Jim Marinitti is an air traffic controller at Miami International Airport. |
Top pay: $159,000
Median pay: $83,700
"The thing with our profession," according to Jim Marinitti, an air traffic controller at Miami International Airport, "is that the consequences of making a mistake can be hundreds of lives. You have to be on your game every day."
This job usually requires applicants to complete a rigorous training program at a Federal Aviation Administration facility in Oklahoma City. And a wave of new slots could be opening up because many air traffic controllers are Baby Boomers nearing retirement age.
"One of the things I love is that it's different every day," Marinitti says. "When we have the Super Bowl in Miami it changes everything or when the president flies in, it keeps the job very interesting, very exciting. Some say it's like a video game, and it is. But our job is a video game that we have to win everyday."
Nuclear Power Reactor Manager
 (Courtesy: Dale Atkinson) |
| Dale Atkinson is the vice president of operational support at Energy Northwest in Richland, Wash. |
Top pay: $128,000
Median pay: $86,200
Cue the Homer Simpson jokes. But in all honesty, nuclear power reactor managers don't need a degree. People usually start as equipment operators and, after some years of on-the-job training, get certified by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Dale Atkinson got his start in the U.S. Navy, and says that prepared him well for the demands of the job. "Most people would find it stressful," he says. "Most plants work a 12-hour shift and when you are on shift there are a lot of technical demands. We have procedures, oversight and fatigue rules. If you are going to operate a system, there is a procedure for everything and typically there is another person that monitors for error prevention."
But, there are days of great achievement, Atkinson says. "Putting the main generator on and seeing it produce energy is an enormous feeling of accomplishment."
Director of Security
 (Courtesy: Brad Bonnell) |
| Brad Bonnell is the director of security at InternContinental Hotels Group. |
Top pay: $123,000
Median pay: $68,700
For Brad Bonnell, director of security for the InterContinental Hotels Group, a background in law enforcement or the military is more useful than a degree in his position. That's because a day's work, he says, "can range from having to evict a guest, confrontations with belligerent guests or visitors and the worst nightmare would be to evacuate a hotel in response to a fire or bomb threat."
Plus, he adds, negotiating skills are vital. "We had Oprah Winfrey show up at a hotel at 2 a.m. with her dog and there are no pets allowed. But I told the manager on duty to get the dog a room of its own if she wants it. You want to be on Oprah's good side."
But two downsides to the job: Competition for senior security jobs is ferocious, and working conditions can be hazardous.
Elevator Mechanic
 (Courtesy: Cole Haston) |
| Cole Haston is an elevator mechanic in Kansas City, Mo. |
Top pay: $109,000
Median pay: $72,900
Offering an unusually high level of job security, this line of work usually requires a four-year apprenticeship with a local union. However, getting a foot in the door is tougher in some cities than in others. Start by contacting your local building-trades union and ask what you need to do. One downside: You may have to be on call 24/7.
Cole Haston began his career working with his dad. "My dad got started when I was pretty young and I would tag along with him, so I was interested at an early age," he says. "I got hired as an apprentice in the union and took classes at night. Now, I am a modernization mechanic; I go into a building and upgrade the controllers, replace some components that have a lot of wear and tear."
But this is no day at the office -- they are working with heights, electricity and dangerous machinery, after all. But Haston still loves his job. "What I truly love is the variety of work, the places you get to go. There aren't a lot of jobs out there where you can go to a federal penitentiary one day and a five star hotel the next. It never gets boring."
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