Fresh out of school? Looking for your first job? Looking for a new job after years of not being in the job force? Need to pick up a new job in a new field quick? You might find yourself banging your head against the Catch 22 of needing experience in order to get a job—and then acquire said experience.
You might think that there are no decent paying jobs worth taking that don’t require a minimum of experience. But you’d be wrong. Here are a number of perfectly good jobs that don’t require you to have work experience in that field. Stay in them happily, or use them as a stepping stone to other career moves.
1. Administrative Assistant
What is valued most by people looking to hire an admin assistant or an executive secretary is not experience, but skill. Can you do the job. Are you preternaturally organized? Super reliable, trustworthy, discreet, able to multitask with the best of them? Willing to pick up dry cleaning and handle confidential legal and financial information? Familiar with word-processing, database, and spreadsheet software? Can you type? You’re hired. Average salary: nearly $38k per year.
2. Delivery Driver
Have a clean driver’s license? Get work for a national, local, global, or regional company driving delivery vehicles. You’ll even have the benefit of a great deal of scheduling flexibility—and a chance to get your foot in the door at a company. Average salary: anywhere from $16-46k per year.
3. Bill Collector
Didn’t even know this was a job? All you need is a high school diploma, good phone manner, and good customer service skills to be able to help chase down payments from negligent payers. This career is expected to grow 19% in the next ten years and the average salary ranges from $21-48k per year.
4. Security Officer
Always wanted to be a cop but don’t want to bother with all the training? Try being a security officer for an office building, a lobby, a museum, or a mall. You’ll have to be on your feet most of the time, but you’ll get on-the-job training, flexible hours, and the average salary is over $35k per year.
5. Bartender
If you can handle the work, and make the drinks, and keep from overserving unruly clientele, then you can make great money behind a bar. If experience is necessary for one of these jobs, it is usually as simple as attending a course or bartending school. And you can make as much as $50k per year.
6. School Bus Driver
You’ll have to be patient and a very, very safe driver, but you can make anywhere from $16-$40k driving children to and from school—with no prior experience. You might even score some decent benefits.
7. Real Estate Broker
You need to take a 60-hour course and pass a test, but once you do, you’re qualified to be a broker. What matters in this job is more who you know and how broad your network, rather than how many years you’ve been selling houses. If you’re good at sales and personable, this might be for you. It starts small, but the compensation can be wildly enticing. Average salary ranges from: $30-227k.
8. HR Assistant
Help screen job applicants for companies (and learn something in the process). You’ll get decent benefits and a competitive salary (around $38k per year). And the more skills you have with computers and communication, the better off you’ll be.
9. Clerk
Consider working at the local courthouse, DMV, or municipal office. City governments employ a ton of people; you might as well be one of them! Experience requirements are very low, but benefits are high. And the average salary is around $38k.
10. Cable Installer
Ever wonder about the guy or gal who comes to install your cable or internet? Chances are you could have their job with little to no experience. You’ll get on-the job-training, of course. And people skills are a plus. Contact your local provider to see about job openings. Average annual salary: between $21-52k.
