How to Earn a Six-Figure Salary
Three Step Career Plan
Step One: Identify a high-paying career path that fits your core competencies and interests.
The first step to earning six figures with no degree or experience is to identify and work toward a path to get there. It's possible, but will not fall on your lap. Use bridged or another tool to explore different career pathing options. Identify a job type that fits your core competencies and interests best.
Core competencies are defined as capabilities, knowledge, and skills that constitute a person's "defining strengths." Use this framework to identify the skills you have, and the skill gaps you still need to bridge. If you’re not sure yet on a particular job and just know you’d like a remote one, we recommend reading about Remote Jobs that Don’t Require Experience.
Top Departments for Entry-Level Roles
Top Entry-Level Roles for Beginners
Step Two: Sign up for Linkedin and create / update your profile.
Finding a high paying job is almost impossible without Linkedin, because many of these jobs are in tech. Linkedin has almost entirely replaced the modern resume, with employers and recruiters asking specifically for links to your profile in lieu of a resume. Linkedin is one of the biggest job marketplaces in the world.
Once you've completed step 1 and have a job in mind, craft your Linkedin bio to specifically mention experiences with your current skills. Be sure to include the skill names themselves so recruiters can find you in a skill-keyword search (yes, that’s a thing!).
If you’re serious about job hunting, we recommend signing up for Linkedin Premium for a few reasons.
Intro to Linkedin Learning
Linkedin Learning is free for premium subscribers. There are tons of classes and certifications available through Linkedin Learning, many that append directly to your profile upon completion. This shows job sourcers that you are the real deal, and also helps you appear in their keyword searches. We are huge fans of Linkedin Learning.
Linkedin Premium allows you to see where your skills and experiences land you in pools of applicants for each job listing. This is extremely helpful for seeing commonly-held skills, but also the skills that maybe could set you apart. Take note of those.
Linkedin Premium has a free trial! We recommend signing up to see if you’d benefit from the Learning format and job skill lister. It’s also heavily discounted for students and free for veterans.
Step Three: bridge your skillgaps.
After you've picked a job type and updated your Linkedin, we recommend taking targeted actions towards bridging your skill gaps. This means looking at individual skills in job descriptions, and tackling them one at a time with specific courses.
If you have multiple skills missing, we recommend using a certification subscription system like Linkedin Learning or Coursera Plus.
Coursera Plus is a little steeper at $59/month, but it offers crazy flexibility with certifications. If you’re serious about your job hunt, we recommend signing up for a few months, using self discipline to finish the certs quickly, and being diligent about updating your Linkedin.
Micro-Certification Stacking
Using self-discipline and stacking certifications will save you thousands of dollars over traditional education or a Bootcamp. Bootcamps can cost an upwards of $15,000 for material you can learn on your own. Don't give up-- rejections are part of the process.
