Can you have a dream career without college?

If you go to College, you’ll strike it rich – or so schools like to imply. But with an increasing number of the population emerging from university with first class degrees, what chances have you got to make your mark in the graduate job market?

Instead of fretting about future education, why not try a career that takes more than a nifty degree? A job path requiring dedication, industriousness and an entrepreneurial spirit is what you need – and we’ve rustled up a few options for you.

Are friends electric? Or are they green?

As mop-top rockers The View once sang, “Get a trade, son, and you’ll go far.” And they weren’t wrong.

The employment market, even in sagging economic times, always needs tradesmen in some form or other. And nowhere are changing market demands breeding success more than in the fields of electricity and alternative energy.

Many trade firms offer a microgeneration certification scheme that will help you corner the green energy markets. You’ll be taught how to harness renewable energy, in what is still a unique set of skills within the industry.

Build on this and you could work your way up to owning a business of your own. Who knows where your success could lead.

Improve your net worth

The days of overnight internet billionaires might be on the wane, but that doesn’t mean the web can’t breed success for entrepreneurs. Whether you’re hoping to be an eBay junk hawker or a high-class web design pro, the internet will give you access to a global community of millions.

The trick is to know how to play the search engine game with Google. Using the right tactics to boost your search engine rating will give you enough clout for clicks. After you’re past that hurdle, your website will actually have to be worth clicking on, so figure out how to make you content pop and you’ll have all eyes on your homepage.

Internet success is never guaranteed, but it is worth a bash. Like runaway successes Instagram and Vine, even the smallest idea can blossom into billions.

Start something small

Whether you’ve got a passion for gaming or a penchant for food, starting a pet project business and allowing it to develop could be the key to turning your hobby into a career.

Take Ian Livingstone, the multimillionaire polymath. In the 80s, he lived in a van while he created board games and fantasy gaming books. As time passed, he moved into video gaming, raking in millions from franchises like Tomb Raider. Nowadays, he lives in a mansion. The man is a walking money vault – and all because he followed his dreams.

Do the same and, although there are no guarantees, you could find yourself walking in Livingstone’s footsteps.