The 20 highest paying jobs where you DON’T need a degree
IF you’re tired of working hard for little reward, it might be time for a career change.
And while wages are stagnating in some areas of the economy, there are some jobs where salaries have gone up by more than 50% in the last year alone.
Jobs website Adzuna has rounded up the 20 roles that have seen the biggest pay increases in the last 12 months exclusively for The Sun – and even better, you don’t need a degree to do them.
The biggest increase in salary was for a job as a casino dealer, where pay has increased by a whopping 107% in the past year. The average advertised salary is now £63,200, up from just £30,519 twelve months ago.
By comparison, Adzuna’s July Job Market Report found that average advertised salaries across all jobs in the UK rose by just 2.7% year-on-year in June.
Andrew Hunter, co-founder of Adzuna, said: “Many employers are loosening their purse strings for hiring this year.
“If a 3% increase doesn’t catch your eye, our data shows that there are numerous roles with salary growth exceeding 25%, and they don’t require a degree.
“If you have exceptional communication skills, consider roles like Dealer (+107%), Traffic Management Operative (+73%) or Social Media Specialist (+60%).
“These positions offer more than 50% annual pay growth, presenting an exciting opportunity for job-seekers to explore.”
The job role with the second highest jump in salary is traffic management operative, which has seen a pay increase from £27,058 to £46,849 – a rise of 73.1%.
Those who have seen the third biggest rise are builders, who now earn 72.6% more a year on average, with advertised roles increasing from £33,878 in 2023 to £58,459 today.
The only other job role where pay rose by more than 50% is social media specialist. Last year, the average advertised salary for this role was just £29,050, but as of today that has now risen to £46,356.
Social work assistants, night warehouse operatives, pump operators, aestheticians, cable jointers, data entry administrators, and coffee shop assistants have all seen pay rise by more than 40%.
While most of these roles don’t require a degree, you might need to do some formal training. But with more companies than ever offering apprenticeships, this can be a great way to start earning whilst learning crucial skills.
You can use the gov.uk website to search and apply for apprenticeships in England.
There are currently 38,378 listed on the website. In Scotland, you can search on the apprenticeships.scot website, In Wales use the wales.gov apprenticeships section, while in Northern Ireland you need to look at nidirect.gov.
As an apprentice, you’ll:
- Earn a wage of at least the national minimum wage
- Get holiday pay
- Work alongside experienced staff
- Gain job-specific skills
- Get time for training and study related to your role (at least 20% of your normal working hours)
Apprenticeships take between one and five years to complete, depending on their level.
Earlier this month, The Sun also rounded up all the best hourly paid jobs that don’t require a degree.
We found that there are plenty of jobs offering more than £25 per hour, which works out as an annual salary of almost £43,000 per year – well above the national average.
Top of the charts was a rope access consultant, which pays £30 an hour. That works out as a full-time salary of more than £50,000 a year.
What is the average full-time wage?
According to data firm Statista, the median annual salary in the UK in 2023 was £34,963. It found that annual earnings varied significantly by region, ranging from £44,370 in London to £31,200 in the North East.
Just two other areas of the UK had median annual earnings above the UK average; South East England and Scotland, at £36,560 and £35,518, respectively.
From the list of twenty jobs with the most rapidly increasing salary, 13 have pay above the national average. These are:
- Dealer – £63,200
- Traffic Management Operative – £46,849
- Builder – £58,459
- Social Media Specialist – £46,356
- Social Work Assistant – £37,881
- Pump Operator – £42,818
- Aesthetician – £37,500
- Cable Jointer – £56,617
- Commercial Insurance Account Executive – £52,366
- Service Centre Manager – £44,156
- Insulation Worker – £55,040
- Workshop Technician – £38,005
- Photocopier Service Engineer – £37,367
The key to a good CV
HERE we explain how to make you CV standout
The first impression your potential employer will get of you is from the layout of your CV, so be sure to make yours stand out.
It should be clear to read, with appropriate headers and in a decent-sized font.
You should also avoid “fun” fonts such as Comic Sans as they’re hard to make out and aren’t very professional.
You’ll also want to use words that are appropriate for applying to a professional role.
Plus, it goes without saying that your CV should be clear of typos and grammatical mistakes.