It should be pretty obvious that some industries will enforce drug testing during the employment process, and potentially on-the-job as well. Construction, driving, healthcare, manufacturing, working for the government, you’d be nuts to smoke weed every day and apply for those jobs. But there are jobs that don’t drug test, even intermittently, and there’s no reason why you should be excluded from getting them just because you smoke a joint in the evening.
So let’s take a look here in detail at everything you need to know about getting a job that doesn’t drug test you. We will look at regular jobs don’t drug test, and if there are any specific good-paying jobs don’t drug test either.
As well as that, we will discuss companies that don’t drug test much, and how you can spot the best opportunities for getting a job that has little chance of drug testing you during the interview process or after.
In addition, we will talk about how you can pass a drug test guaranteed, and if there’s a chance you could actually insulate yourself completely against drug testing in the future by thinking outside the box on how you work.
Why So Many Companies Drug Test Right Now
Part of the reason why so many companies drug test nowadays is down to hard economics. It is not just pressuring on the company’s bottom lines, it’s pressure from the government as well.
Drug testing in the USA costs approximately $3.7 billion each year. However, when you put that up against the near $70 billion that drug and alcohol-related problems in the workplace cost the economy, and you can see why many companies see it as worthwhile.
On top of that, not only do all federal agencies have to drug test potential employees, but it’s not well-known that anyone working for the government indirectly has to as well. So if you get a job at a company that are contracted to work for the government, providing some sort of service to them, or even making equipment for the government under contract, then you are working for a company that are having to follow the same guidelines as federal employees.
We now also live in the post coronavirus world. For several years into the future that’s going to mean higher unemployment levels. More people in the job market means companies can be pickier. That means more rigorous background checks, more drug testing, and more convoluted recruitment processes as well.
Are There Any Good Paying Jobs That Don’t Drug Test Out There?
The only way you can really try and spot good-paying jobs that don’t drug test is to look at statistics. Those are actually quite hard to come by, but there are some studies out there that give us a clue as to what well-paid jobs are least likely to include a drug test during the interview process.
To give you an idea, here are four industries/sectors that have low drug testing rates when compared to the 56% of companies in the USA who drug test new employees:
- The bar staff is rather surprisingly very rarely drug tested during the interview process, or on the job. Only around 3% of employees in the bar industry have reported being drug tested. Looking a little wider in the hospitality industry, chefs get tested on average 6.2% of the time and hostesses around 4% of the time. So as an industry, hospitality is one that you could find a home in without ever having to pee into a cup. Although not all positions are well-paid, with tips, and in senior positions, the money can be very good.
- Creative white-collar jobs are also another industry that is generally not subject to much drug testing scrutiny. However, a lot of people in this area are self-employed or work on demand, so they have nobody to commission a drug test on them in the first place. As an example, graphic designers report being drug tested less than 4% of the time during the interview process, while copywriters and creative writers report at around 3%.
- Financial services, insurance, and real estate are three job sectors where drug testing is generally low. On average, 3% of these people face drug tests during employment. In fact, for realtors, it’s around half a percent. However, a lot of real estates agents are self-employed, but this figure does include employed people as well. With an average salary approaching $50,000, they definitely fit into that bracket of good-paying jobs that don’t drug test during the interview process often.
- Personal services and the beauty industry are other areas where there are opportunities to make quite a lot of money, but without close scrutiny with drug testing. Again, a lot of these people are self-employed or work on demand, and the gig economy, that’s not the whole story. Fitness trainers are tested on average around 1% of the time, massage therapists around 3% of the time. Pet groomers who are employed face a drug test less than 3% of the time as well. People in the cosmetics industry, makeup, nails, hair generally, experience very low levels of drug testing but can still make good money.
Is There A List Of Companies That Don’t Drug Test Anywhere?
Unfortunately, there is no list of companies that don’t drug test. You can search online and you can spot trends. But unfortunately, you’ll get a lot of poor quality information if you try and find companies that definitely don’t do drug testing.
Part of the problem is that many companies are franchises, and although the main umbrella company might have a strong drug testing policy, it’s not always enforced by those operating the locations.
Plus, people you work for many companies can report that they don’t do drug testing even if they have a policy for it. But then someone else even in the same city or state will claim that they were drug tested. So you simply cannot take the evidence of what people are saying at face value.
So all you can do is look at industry sectors that could be more open to people who use drugs, and who don’t drug test, at least unofficially, because sometimes the best people would never be employed.
These are the industries where you definitely won’t be embraced the having a weed habit:
- Working for the government
- Working for a company who are contracted to the federal government
- Working in any part of public sector state work
- Anything to do with heavy industry
- Jobs that involve driving
- Healthcare
- Law enforcement or anything related to it
- Childcare and social work
Now that may seem pretty obvious, but you’d be amazed how many job types that actually covers. Unfortunately, even the hospitality industry can be quite hot on drug testing as well.
The bottom line is that nearly 60% of the employees in the USA were drug tested during the interview process. That means you’re looking for the 40% of companies who don’t do that. The problem is that nearly all of that 40% could have a drug test policy in place, and could partially drug test, which makes it even more of an uncertain situation.
How To Spot Good Paying Jobs That Don’t Drug Test
The problem with finding good-paying jobs that don’t drug test is that there are millions of other people out there who smoke weed and take other drugs looking for them as well.
These are usually liberal companies and industries, and the type of person they employee means that they have the pick of the crop. That’s why you have to do something different in order to get your foot in the door:
- The most important thing you need to do is to get your resume up to date. Not only that, but make it absolutely superb. It has to shine.
- You will need experience that is relevant. Not necessarily the same job or even the same industry, something that shows you have what it takes to understand what is required and do it more quickly than other people.
- Make sure your education standards are up to scratch. Try and get relevant qualifications that could help in the industry sectors you are interested in.
- Do your research before you write your resume and cover letter. Embellish it, we’ve in a lot of relevance and make sure that you show them you understand the job perfectly.
- If you can, network. Anything you can do to try and get noticed. Find the company representatives online and follow them on social media. Interact with them and demonstrate knowledge, and even comment about the fact you’ve got an interview, and how excited you are about the opportunity.
- This is vital, but many people don’t even consider it. Make sure your social media streams are clean. If there are photos on Facebook of you with a big fat reefer in your hand, or you’re banging on about taking drugs at a party on Instagram or Twitter, you’re screwed. More and more companies look at social media to try and find the person they are considering inviting to interview, to get some idea of who they are in advance. You won’t know they’ve done it, but it could mean you don’t get that crucial interview.
Another way to spot the chance of a drug test is to look at the text of the job application. Look at the company’s website. See if it shows any signs they do a drug test. If the company does to drug testing and background checks as part of the hiring process, they should state it. In fact, in certain states it’s actually legal to tell you if the position you are applying for will require drug testing to obtain it.
But for crying out loud don’t ask them. If you ask your interviewer if the company does a drug test, they are immediately going to think that you don’t want to have one. Even if the company doesn’t drug test, or they weren’t intending to do a drug test on you, what do you think is going to happen if you ask them if you’re going to face one?
Things You Can Do To Avoid Getting Drug Tested At All
So there are some things you can do to avoid getting drug tested during the employment process.
The first thing is to do your background checks on the company. See if it’s likely that they are going to drug test, especially in your location. Get the balance of evidence from what you read online. The second thing you can do is check the literature and the company website to see if they have a drug test policy and what they say about employment purposes.
Then look at the state laws and see if the state says that the company has to do a drug test for employment, and if the company has to state by law they will.
Once you’ve looked at that, take into account the industry sector you are applying for. The more liberal ones, fashion, retail, low paid jobs, things where you are not going to endanger yourself and others, the arts, stuff like that, those sectors are less likely to test.
That’s the same for tech jobs as well, even if you are going to apply for a position that isn’t tech-related, such as a receptionist in a web design company.
Another thing you could do, or at least start to do because it will free you forever from the threat of a drug test, is to see if you can obtain skills, or adapt them, to make money for yourself. Could you work as a freelancer, in the gig economy, basically be self-employed to avoid ever being drug tested at all.
And finally, you could avoid getting caught with a drug test if you know how to get around them.
Fake urine and detox drinks really can work to hide the fact you have drug toxins in your body. You’ll have to do some research on the brands and methods you’ll need to use, but they definitely do work.
Even if it oral swab drug testing, there are gums and mouthwash products out there that can neutralize your saliva for a short time.
So whatever type of drug test you face, it is possible to actually evade it by using a combination of detox drinks, fake urine, gums, and mouthwash products, and a natural detox with detox pills, to make sure that you never have to worry about facing a drug test again anyway.
