The Best Recession-Proof Jobs

We live in tough times, economically, as everyone knows. For a long time now, almost every day has seemed to bring nothing but bad news: formerly stalwart companies going out of business, entire countries on the brink of insolvency, and - of course - people losing their jobs.

However, there are some professions that always seem to thrive. There are some career fields that constantly appear to be hiring. Here, we present a few of these jobs that - in good times and bad - seem immune to the economic pressures that apply almost everywhere else.

Traditionally, teaching is a profession that is about as recession-proof as you can get. Teachers were always in demand. There is an expectation that students will still go to school, even in a poor economy, and those students will have to be educated.

That said, it can't be denied that there are some areas where the economy and budget cuts have caused a number of teachers to receive pink slips. However, every geographic region and school district is different. Moreover, on an overall basis, it's an area of the economy where jobs tend to be added rather than deleted. Thus, in the aggregate, teaching still appears to fall in the category of recession-proof jobs.

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Law enforcement is one area where recessions often causes the number of jobs to increase. (The logic is that a worsening economy means more desperate people. More depserate people start doing more desperate things - like turning to cime.) Thus, the number of police officers on the street is likely to remain fixed, if not actually go up.

While there may be plenty of jobs in general, competition for certain positions - such as at the State or Federal level - is bound to be a bit more fierce. Candidates for these positions can distinguish themselves in various ways, such as by have an undergraduate degree.

Finally, police training, knowledge and experience often carry over very well into the private sector. Former officers often find themselves in high demand as consultants or in private security firms.

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A downtrodden economy doesn't stop people from getting sick and needing medical treatment. Thus, the nursing profession is a career field that is perennially touted as one which is growing and actually facing a shortage of qualified candidates.

However, in all fairness, there is trend data which suggests that the generally-accepted notion of a nursing shortage may not hold true for much longer. Moreover, in bad times, people who need medical care may opt to forego it because of financial concerns. Still, with the aging of the baby boomer population, one can anticipate that any reversal in the traditional trends will be short-lived, and demand for nurses will wane only slightly - if at all. (Not to mention the fact that many senior nurses are actually part of that boomer population and will be retiring.) In short, I would expect the nursing profession to continue its historically recession-proof ways.

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