You can't take up machinist until you get to the Heavensward expansion, which will require you to play through the main story quest. You shouldn't pursue the main story quest past level 30 without equipping the Bard soul gem (or, pick another class to try out).

You are seriously hobbling yourself by not going for the Bard job at level 30.

Now then, if what you want to do is role-play as a self-reliant hunter, go ahead and role-play. You can still do that even if you equip the Bard soul. Role-play is a separate thing from leveling through the main story. Dungeons and trials are going to be a thing, but you only need to do them once.

Good luck.