Recession proof job ideas

Finding a recession proof job or business on Main Street or on Wall Street is today’s economy is a scary proposition.

While the stock market climbs and falls quite drastically on a daily basis, the numbers that hit closer to home are always the growing unemployment figures. As the American economy goes through a wide transformation over the next several years, we are going to see a number of industries evolve – as a result, it’s important to keep the job market in perspective when you think about your long term career prospects.

Currently, we are primarily hearing negative news on the economic job front, with housing starts down in the context of slowing home mortgage industry and traditional manufacturing jobs moving abroad or paying lower, non-union wages. Recent surveys suggest that a number of employers plan a hiring freeze for the foreseeable future, with little prospect of growth in the short run. Major international conglomerates such as Honeywell and even city governments such as Boston have slowed hiring for this year and into next.

In this environment, it’s easy to get down on your job prospects but by being proactive, you can give yourself the strength needed to ride out even the worst job market.

By adding skills, especially technical and scientific expertise, you can position yourself to positions of increasing importance at your current employer (the more versatile you are, the more valuable you will become), as well as opening new career paths. While there are a number of career paths that can help make your job more recession proof, it ultimately comes down to education, which is your key to improved job security. 

Economic and political transitions can also create opportunity in many sectors, including education as worker training and student lessons become more important in the context of a recession.

Local demand for skilled teachers at all levels, from primary to secondary to professional training is on the rise, as a product of the national effort to produce more focused, smaller classrooms to cater to individual students. To get the upper hand on an education career, you should consider returning to school for a master’s degree in your field, with a focus on education that will allow you to tutor or hold a formal position.

Another sector that has gained a lot of attention lately is energy, with a growth in alternative and green jobs as we move beyond a fossil fuel economy. Even the traditional oil sector, which boomed in the 1960s is facing rising retirement in its ranks and is seeking a growing number of skilled workers including engineerings and geologists as global demand for energy increases.

We’ll likely see government funded research into alternative fuels, which should create further opportunities in this area. Accordingly, environmental scientists and consultants will be in high demand to help both energy and consumer companies transition in the new economy.

A long-term stable trend has been emerging in health care as the baby boomer population ages, providing opportunities for skilled workers ranging from nursing to physical therapy to medical doctors and physician’s assistants.

You can position yourself well in today’s economy by increasing your level of education and gaining new skills that will make you more valuable to any employer.