Stable Careers That Do Not Require a Degree

🎮 The 20x1 Gap in Entry-Level Gaming Roles (and what to do) According to our data at Amir Satvat's Games Community, the most comprehensive source tracking gaming jobs worldwide, there is only a 6% over 12 months success rate for applicants to open entry-level roles in the games industry. Many of you ask me, “Where is the opposite happening? Where are there far more jobs than candidates?” If your goal is stable, well-paying employment, here are some sectors worth looking at, with data as of 2025. 🎯 Cybersecurity There is a global shortfall of roughly 4.8 million cybersecurity professionals in 2025. In the U.S. alone, there are over 457,000 open cybersecurity jobs, with not nearly enough trained professionals to fill them. 🩺 Healthcare (Nursing and Allied Roles) The U.S. is projected to be short over 500,000 registered nurses by the end of 2025. Allied health roles like surgical technicians and medical assistants also face critical shortages. In 2024, there were over 6 million openings in middle-skill healthcare roles, with 72 percent going unfilled. 🛠️ Skilled Trades and Advanced Manufacturing The U.S. continues to report over 500,000 unfilled jobs in manufacturing and the skilled trades. This is driven by a wave of retirements and a lack of incoming young talent. 📊 Finance and Accounting Unemployment in finance and accounting remains exceptionally low, in many roles, under 2 percent. 🤖 AI and Data Infrastructure AI job postings grew by 21 percent globally between 2023 and 2024 and remain strong in 2025. AI operations, prompt engineering, and data infrastructure support roles are surging. Many don’t require traditional CS degrees and can be accessed through microcredentials or apprenticeships. Many people's eyes glaze over when they see lists like these. But I’m very serious. I will keep bringing this up. Because the truth is, for many young people, even making it to the second or third ring of their job preference, let alone the dream job in the center, is growing harder, no matter how passionate they are. I'm not saying any of these paths must be yours. But I am saying that doing this kind of exercise, mapping supply and demand and finding a viable way to support yourself, is a healthy and responsible thing to do. And one we don’t talk about nearly enough. You never have to stop aiming your arrow at the dream. But the truth is, some may not reach it, and that doesn’t diminish the worth of the journey. While you work toward what you hope for, it’s okay, and often necessary, to find something that supports you along the way. If that path offers fair wages, room to grow, and some stability, it’s not giving up. It’s caring for yourself and making a responsible, thoughtful choice. We need to stop treating these decisions as failures or signs of lacking passion. In reality, they’re thoughtful, praiseworthy, and deeply pragmatic steps forward.

Everyone's fighting for the same tech and remote jobs while completely ignoring careers that pay just as well with way less competition. While you're competing with thousands of people for that remote marketing role, there are specialized careers offering exceptional compensation, job security, and benefits that most professionals have never even considered. Here are 5 high-value opportunities hiding in plain sight: 1. Clinical Documentation Specialists - Healthcare digitization is exploding, and these roles often come with remote work options. You're ensuring accurate medical record coding and compliance in a sector that's not going anywhere. 2. Utility Line Workers - Essential infrastructure that requires human expertise and can't be outsourced overseas. Strong union benefits and job security in a sector society literally can't function without. 3. Compliance Analysts in fintech/healthcare - Regulatory requirements keep getting more complex in rapidly growing industries. If you understand both business operations and compliance frameworks, you're golden. 4. Wind Turbine Technicians - Renewable energy infrastructure is experiencing sustained growth driven by environmental policies and energy transition. This sector is just getting started. 5. Speech Language Pathologists - Opportunities extend far beyond schools to hospitals, telehealth platforms, private practice, and corporate wellness programs. The pattern here? Excellent employment opportunities often exist in specialized fields that don't generate widespread awareness but offer substantive professional and financial rewards. Stop fighting for the same overhyped positions everyone else wants. Look where others aren't looking. What lesser-known career paths have you observed that offer strong compensation and stability? Sign up to my newsletter for more corporate insights and truths here: https://vist.ly/3yvgx #deepalivyas #eliterecruiter #recruiter #recruitment #jobsearch #corporate #specializedcareers #jobsecurity #careerstrategist

There’s a whole category of high-paying, high-impact careers that never make it into the classroom conversation. No four-year degree. No student debt. Just real skills, real leadership potential, and a direct path to a six-figure career. Multifamily maintenance is the backbone of our industry—and yet, it's one of the most misunderstood and overlooked roles. It’s hands-on, skilled work that can’t be outsourced or replaced by AI. And with today’s labor shortages, demand has never been higher. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, over 160,000 new maintenance and repair workers will be needed annually through 2032. But only 16% of high school grads are entering the skilled trades—most simply don’t know what’s possible. That’s the gap we need to close. We need to reach students before they choose their path—and introduce them to the real opportunities in multifamily. Many of our most respected service leaders started in entry-level roles and worked their way up to supervisor, director, even VP. They didn’t just find jobs—they built careers. If you know of any programs exposing young people to multifamily maintenance careers, drop them in the comments. Let’s give the next generation a clear look at what’s possible. Because the future of our industry depends on who sees themselves in it.

You don’t need to go to college to have a great career: 20% of those who go straight to work after HS outearn the median college graduate. But much depends on how you start. Some first jobs make you 4x more likely to be a top earner by the time you’re 40; others make you 4x more likely to wind up in or near poverty. The problem: picking the right start requires guidance few students receive. In fact, some of the best and worst starting jobs have the same initial salaries. Those who start out seating people in a restaurant and those cleaning rooms in a hotel make about the same; 20 years on, those who started as restaurant hosts are making $80,000 while the former housekeepers are making only $37,000. How can a student tell the difference? In our report “Launchpad Jobs: Advancing Careers & Economic Success Without a Degree” undertaken in partnership with American Student Assistance, The Burning Glass Institute tracked the careers of millions of people who went straight to work after high school to understand which paths lead to economic mobility and which prove to be dead ends. That’s especially important because 40% of students don’t go straight to college, while many of those who do ultimately stop out or graduate into jobs they didn’t need to go to college to get. The good news: there are clear patterns of success – pathways that we know work. The bad news: with minimal information, the choices students make are often haphazard. Guidance counselors have little data on career outcomes to draw on and limited experience with routes that don’t pass through college. Key insights from our report: * 1 in 5 HS graduates without a degree out-earn the median college grad, and over 2 million nondegree workers earn more than $100,000 annually. * The 73 Launchpad Jobs we identify span a wide range of fields and advance careers across measures – from upward mobility to wages, from job stability to benefits. * Those in Launchpad Jobs earn almost 30% more after 10 years, are 10% more likely to be promoted, and face 20% lower risk of unemployment. * Despite 1.9M annual entry-level openings for Launchpad Jobs, not even 10% of 18-year-olds find their way to them. * The choices students make after landing their first gig are crucial too, even for those in Launchpad Jobs. Those who pursue a technical specialization or enter management can sometimes triple their earnings within just a decade. #careers #economics #education #skills #jobs You can find the report on http://bit.ly/3ASc8yw. And check out Steve Lohr’s insightful coverage in The New York Times: https://nyti.ms/4fSqQnW.   I am grateful to ASA for its partnership in this project. I am also deeply appreciative to have had the chance to work coauthors Jean Eddy & Judith L. Goldstein at ASA and Carlo Salerno at the Burning Glass Institute, as well as with BGI colleagues Erik Leiden, Gwynn Guilford, Shrinidhi Rao, Tomer Stern, Scott Spitze, and Mels de Zeeuw, and Julie Lammers and Sandy D. at ASA.