11 jobs in UK that can pay at least 40k and don't require a degree
It's fair to say that the jobs market feels quite s**t at the moment in the UK, though that's hardly anything new as the current misery has plodded on for years.
Gone are the days when your parents imagined you marching into a building armed with your CV and a firm handshake, only to leave with steady employment for life.
Instead, most people's experiences involve applying for dozens, if not hundreds, of jobs and being ghosted time and time again as they jostle with many others going through the same thing, until finally (hopefully) you are at last accepted somewhere and your spot in the proverbial lifeboat is secured.
It doesn't help that many people have to make a decision on what their career path is going to be while they're still teenagers in school, but there are opportunities for people who don't have a degree or specialist training.
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Of course, most of the following jobs where you could earn more than £40k a year are going to require you to get some kind of training beforehand, but if you commit to them, you could end up making decent money.
Estate agent
The Sun talked to CV Library experts who said the average salary for an estate agent in the UK was £40,174, which is just a little higher than the UK's average salary.
You don't need a degree, though it's not the sort of job you're going to stroll into without any qualifications.
There are courses and apprenticeships you can do to gain qualifications or practical experience, which makes you more hireable, and as long as there are people alive, they're always going to need somewhere to live.
Just remember that the starting salary is probably not going to be near the average salary, especially if you're on an apprenticeship.
Plumber
This is another job where you'd likely have to start below the £40k a year goal and work your way up, but CV Library reckon that while you'd be starting on something like £23,351, your income could rise to an average of £44,429.
Again there are courses and apprenticeships you'd need to get on to get this job, if you have no idea what you're doing nobody is going to let you take a wrench to their pipes.
Carpenter
If you want to learn a trade but would prefer to get your hands on wood instead of plumbing, then perhaps carpentry is more your thing.
There are always things that need building, and CV Library says you can earn an average of £45,527 on the job once you gain enough experience.
College courses and apprenticeships can teach you how to be a carpenter and connect you with people who might get you practical experience on the job.
You'll also need to be willing to do a lot of manual labour.
Construction manager
This is the sort of job you get after putting in the time in construction, so it's definitely not an entry-level role.
If you've worked somewhere long enough and fancy switching over to telling other people how to do their job, then you could earn around £60k doing it, which is a nice pay rise.
Claims adjuster
Very few people think they want to be a claims adjuster when they grow up, but one of the perils of growing up is realising you need to make money so you can afford things.
However, if you like to go places and investigate their insurance claims, then you can make a tidy living from it.
Idex Consulting says you don't need a degree for this job, though, as with many other roles, having one or prior experience in a finance field would make your application stronger.
Still, there are entry-level scenes and apprenticeships you can get, and there is also the Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters, through which you can get qualifications.
CV Library told The Sun that these folks make on average £43,959 a year.
Software engineer
You don't need a degree for this, but unless you want to start as an apprentice, you are going to need to show you have the experience or qualifications which demonstrate you know how to code.
The world runs on technology, and that all needs someone to code it, then that code needs to be maintained.
CV Library says for this one, you could earn over £50k a year, so if you have the technical know-how, there could be money in it for you.
At least until someone trains AI to s**t out lines of code and your boss decides they don't need you any longer, until that breaks and then you get hired to fix the mess caused.
Project manager
Reckon you've put in your years of work doing a job, and now it's time you gave the orders? Being a project manager might be for you.
Once again, this one is going to need oodles of experience, so whether or not you have a degree may be a rather moot point at this moment in your career.
If you want to tell others what to do, you'd be expected to show you've done it yourself before, so you know what you're talking about.
When people imagine job seekers, the picture in their head is likely of someone young, but there are plenty of people who've spent years working who might either find themselves without a job for the first time in ages or think it's finally time to shake things up.
Finance manager
Yet again, it turns out that spending years working and moving up the ladder comes with some financial benefits, as CV Library reckons you can make an average of £68,156 a year doing this.
They aren't just going to put someone who doesn't know what they're doing in charge of a company's money, or at least you'd desperately hope not, but if you can prove you're a safe pair of hands with a head for numbers, you can carve out a good career for yourself.
Train driver
Now here's a job lots of people grow up wanting to do when they're older, and it's a lucrative career if you can get yourself in the driver's cabin and stay for enough years to get your salary up.
Typically, you'll need to have decent GCSEs in English and Maths, as well as be physically up to the job of paying attention to what's going on.
While there are apprenticeships you can try and sign up for initially, the government suggests you might also get a job on the railways, such as a train conductor or passenger assistant and apply for a trainee position when one becomes available.
You won't start off on high pay, but CV Library says they can earn £60,850 on average.
Air Traffic Controller
Never mind a management job where you're bossing people around, try bossing around planes.
You're going to need to have done your GCSEs here, but you can get onto an apprenticeship scheme, and the pay is pretty good right from the start, while CV Library says someone can earn up to £64k in the role.
You'd hope it paid well, given the responsibility on the shoulders of whoever is doing the job.
Joining the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) as a trainee is your first rung on this ladder, where you'll spend a year or two learning how to do the job before getting practical training.
Pilot
From guiding planes down from a tower to actually doing it in the cockpit, you will need to become qualified as a pilot before they let you be in charge of an aircraft with other people's lives on board.
It takes a long time to learn how to fly, and you must be able to pass a medical test as well, and if you succeed, you'll put yourself on course for a very well-paid job.
How much money you can make might depend on the flights you work on, but it's a well-paying job with a lot of travel.
Joe Harker