10 Companies that Don’t Have A Degree Requirement for Applicants

Landing a job will not be that difficult eventually with these 10 companies that don’t have a degree requirement for applicants leading the change. Penguin Random House UK recently made headlines when they announced that they are removing university degrees from their job requirements. The move was done in order to add variety to their candidates.

According to the publishing giant, there is no correlation between having a degree and work performance. This means that being a college graduate doesn’t guarantee that you will perform well at work. In addition, Penguin Random House has also removed the degree filter on all their job advertisements in the UK.

There are a lot of talented individuals out there that haven’t had the chance to land a job on big companies due to their lack of college degrees. We published an article on the 16 highest paying jobs without a degree in 2015 to help people who have this dilemma. But knowing what these jobs are isn’t enough, you also need to know where to find them, which is why we looked for specific companies that are on the same page as Penguin.

Companies are now giving more weight to the talent, attitude, and experience of individuals more than college diplomas. The truth is, some people are able to self-study and hone certain skills even without going to a university. This list is curated and collated from CNBC, Huffington Post, and Forbes. With information easily accessible and available to everyone, education is no longer limited to a classroom setting. Thus, skilled individuals are no longer exclusive to college graduates.

Here are 10 companies that are changing the game in the area of hiring and giving of equal opportunities.

10. Home Depot

One of Home Depot’s main tenets is to have “greater diversity in their people.” The company is described as an “Equal Opportunity/M/F/Vet/Disabled Employer” thus making it one of the best companies for undergrads. Although most of the jobs in Home Depot are part-time, they provide benefits for part-time employees! Sales associates earn $11 per hour and their store managers earn roughly $86,000 annually.

One cashier employee said, “Working here was a great decision for me. Flexible schedules, and great coworkers. I’ve worked there for less 5 months and I have already got a promotion to work service.” One of their merchandise associates also said, “The Home Depot has a solid moral compass. They aren’t about sacrificing their ethics for the sake of a sale, which I love. They also hire a diverse group of people and give a lot back to the community. They offer a lot of benefits and little treats for their employees.”

9. Nordstrom

If you love clothes, then working in Nordstrom is for you! They value diversity as they believe that this makes the company better and the communities they serve stronger. They offer comprehensive benefits, merchandise discount, medical coverage, retirement plan, and more! On their website they describe themselves as, “…an equal opportunity employer, committed to recruiting, hiring and promoting qualified people of all backgrounds, regardless of sex; race; color; creed; national origin; religion; age; marital status; pregnancy; physical, mental or sensory disability; sexual orientation; gender identity or any other basis protected by federal, state or local law.” Thus, they do not discriminate if you don’t have a college degree.

There’s also huge potential for career growth as one assistant manager said, “Growth within the company, hires from within.” This means if you started off as a sales personnel, you you could eventually be a store manager if you work hard enough! Another employee added, “Nordstrom is a large company and has a lot of different divisions which allows you to move around to find a good fit.”

8. Starbucks

Starbucks has been known for hiring high school graduates. But unlike common misconceptions that college undergrads don’t go anywhere in big companies, the coffee giant proves it otherwise. A Starbucks trainer based in San Francisco said, “There is growth potential and longevity within the company, if you either want to work in a store or work your way to the HQ in Seattle.”

One Starbucks barista said in his review at Glassdoor that despite only working part-time for a year, he was offered Starbucks stock, 401(k), and a superb Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance plan. He describes the benefits as “out of sight” and they really are! Another barista reveals that they have free Spotify Premium and weekly coffee or tea freebies. They call their employees “partners,” which, in fact, they truly are.

7. Apple

You may not believe this but Apple hires even without a college degree! You will work mainly in the retail area where you get to interact with customers. One feedback from an Apple Family Room Specialist said that the company offers many opportunities for employees and they get training for roles and positions they want. Another Mac Specialist said that Apple gives better pay that any other retail place.

If you’re interested to apply, a Mac Specialist earns about an average of $12 an hour but if you’re excellent at what you do you can even earn as much as $42,000 a year. Not only are the benefits great but the people are awesome, too! One retail specialist said, “Working for Apple is like an experience none other, heading to work everyday is like hanging w/ the bros yet we always manage to be productive while still having that fun vibe.”

6. Publix Super Markets

In case you don’t know, Publix Super Markets is the top privately-owned supermarket in the United States and the largest employee-owned company. All of their Employees get an additional 8.5% of their total pay in the form of Publix stock if they have put in 1,000 work hours and have been employed for a year. Best of all, you don’t need a college diploma to be part of their company!

This employee-centered company really deserves to be named as one of the 10 companies that don’t have a degree requirement for applicants. One Publix employee was promoted from being a bagger to cashier in a span of four months! Another employee who worked part-time for over eight years said, “Publix is a fantastic company to work for. The benefits are outstanding, and generally speaking, the company cares about its employees.”

5. Whole Foods Market

Whole Foods Market is a company that has nothing but great reviews from its current and former employees. They call their employees team members and take pride in being named as Fortune Magazine’s, “100 Best Companies to Work For” every single year since the list was started. One of their cashier assistants was promoted to cashier then eventually as back-up receiver! People who don’t have college degrees can see themselves moving up in the company.

One Whole Foods part-time employee commended the company saying that it has “Good starting pay. Positive work environment. Employee discount. Ability to be creative with product. Good benefits, ‘even for part time employees.’ Flexible work hours, ‘great for students.’ Provides a valuable education on Specialty Products.” One full-time employee said, “Very open minded company. Really tries to empower employees to contribute to the success of the company.”

4. Costco

Costco received a 3.9 rating (out of 5) in Glassdoor, the highest in their list of companies for high school grads. The employees also rated Costco CEO Craig Jelinek 92% as their stamp of approval for the company’s head. One of Costco’s tire installers said, “For people who have no desire to get a degree, or a trade, Costco offers great salary and all the benefits you need for yourself and your family.” Now that says a lot!

A cashier at Costco earns roughly $15 to $16 per hour. One full-time employee gave feedback saying, “Costco lives its culture every single day. In addition to unparalleled member service and vendor relationships they take great care of their employees, stressing work/life balance and providing good salary and benefits. The company provides rock solid stability in a world where layoffs and job hopping can be common place.”

3. Penguin Random House

The latest addition to the growing list of companies that don’t require college degrees, Penguin and Random House merged in October to become the biggest book publisher in the world. For an industry that involves education and literature, this move is a bold one. It’s also encouraging as the company aims to give “every applicant the opportunity to demonstrate their potential, creativity, strengths and ideas, regardless of their background.” The HR Director of Penguin Random House Neil Morrison said, “This is the starting point for our concerted action to make publishing far, far more inclusive than it has been to date. We believe this is critical to our future: to publish the best books that appeal to readers everywhere, we need to have people from different backgrounds with different perspectives and a workforce that truly reflects today’s society.”

Rated 4 in Glassdoor by its employees, one worker described the company as having, “Great work culture, everyone is very friendly and social. Lots of free books, solid benefits, and the work is really rewarding. You’ll learn a lot about the publishing business, make great contacts, and have plenty of networking opportunities. The company’s internal learning program is also really helpful if you’re interested in learning new technical skills.”

2. Ernst & Young

One of the biggest accounting firms in the world, Ernst & Young removed its college degree requirement around August of 2015. According to Maggie Stilwell, Ernst & Young’s managing partner for talent, they made their own internal research of over 400 graduates and found out that using academic performance alone was “too blunt an approach to recruitment.” She added that, “It found no evidence to conclude that previous success in higher education correlated with future success in subsequent professional qualifications undertaken.”

Career growth is one of the company’s strengths. One Ernst & Young employee said, “You got most experience and exposure in the shortest time. Also, the promotion speed is fast comparing to the industry.” Another employee gave feedback saying, “The Firm is a great place to work. There is a great deal of flexibility and the compensation package is highly competitive.”

1. Google

This may be a shock to you but Google does hire individuals that have no college degrees! Senior Vice President of People Operations Lazlo Bock said that the “proportion of people without any college education at Google has increased over time” with some teams having 14% of its people being undergrads. Bock also said, “For every job, though, the No. 1 thing we look for is general cognitive ability, and it’s not I.Q. It’s learning ability. It’s the ability to process on the fly. It’s the ability to pull together disparate bits of information.”

Rated 4.4 in Glassdoor, Google believes “that every employee has something important to say, and that every employee is integral to our success. We provide individually-tailored compensation packages that can be comprised of competitive salary, bonus, and equity components, along with the opportunity to earn further financial bonuses and rewards.” Google gives you all the reasons to work for them like lots of food, mini-kitchens, free breakfast/lunch/dinner/snacks all day, 24/7 gym access, free self-service laundry, bowling alley, volleyball pit, and more! One employee sums it up perfectly, “Great culture. Smart, intelligent, collaborative team members to work with. Competitive compensation. Extremely resourceful (hardware, software, tools, training material).”

These 10 companies that don’t have a degree requirement for applicants prove that great employees are not determined by grades or universities. Success in the workplace is no longer defined by a diploma. Organizations are now thinking outside of the box by hiring people that are not degree holders. They are seeing in their pool of talent that the work and life skills they’re looking for can not only be found in college graduates but also in every smart and hard-working individual.