By David Replogle, University of Virginia

Like the national census or a good Bruce Willis movie, a recession hits the United States about every 10 years or so. It doesn’t take a math major to see it’s been nearly that long since the burst of the dot-com bubble, and now, the collapse of mortgage-backed security has brought Wall Street — and the rest of the economy — to its knees again. As for college students? Well, we’re just crossing our fingers that four years is enough time for the job market to rebound.

Luckily, the U.S. financial system seems to be on the upswing. “By the end of the year, things should be looking better,” says Laurence Shatkin, author of The 150 Best Recession-Proof Jobs. But Shatkin warns that a recovery would not necessarily signal a return in jobs. “They are the last thing to recover in a recession; businesses are going to wait until the last minute to stop using temporary hires. It will easily be over a year until this country starts seeing an increase in job openings.” Here, we relay the crème de la crème of careers so you can declare a major now that will set you up for success later.

What to Pursue
Health care Even in dire straits, people need certain services. Shatkin cites the health care industry, which pays well and continues a growth pattern as the field most adept at staying afloat during a financial downturn. Careers in the medical realm — physicians, surgeons, pharmacists, health service managers — round out No. 6 through No. 10 on Shatkin’s list of 150 recession-proof jobs.
Major in: biomedical sciences, biology, chemistry. Plan on being pre-med.

Information technology High tech is an industry with heavy growth — recession or no recession. With the Internet getting bigger by the millisecond, the stakes for finding a job in the technological world are up. The market does, however, face competition from outsourcing, since labor abroad is cheaper.
Major in: computer science, mathematics, computer engineering, electrical engineering. No lit majors here.

Government Shatkin is quick to point out that careers in government don’t have to be defined by bureaucratic paper pushing and yards of red tape. “Careers like school administrators and law enforcement officers fall under the government’s sphere,” he says. Government positions have had better protection against layoffs, which means more job security.
Major in: public policy, history, politics. Law school is another path to take if you’re looking to snag a spot working for the Feds.

Green jobs An important, budding movement is the green sector — especially green energy. Organizations are looking for enthusiastic college grads to jump on board. Plus, the current presidential administration wants to transform energy needs into a self-sustaining machine anchored by clean and renewable power.
Major in: environmental science, civil engineering, environmental engineering. Although, there are opportunities for activists, advertisers and writers to get involved too, since the field is relatively new and malleable.

Education The good news is that there’s still a very high demand for teachers. The bad news is that schools get funding from local taxes, so when this revenue dries up, so does money toward teachers’ salaries. Making big bucks is almost out of the question.
Major in: various topics in education, from math to P.E.

What to Avoid
Journalism While Shatkin says several journalists still maintain great jobs in various trades, from padding the blogosphere to entertainment reporting, the field faces an uphill battle against two formidable opponents: bankruptcy and the Internet. Shatkin, himself a writer, claims the trick is to find a good niche: “I write about careers now, and I love what I do.”

Entertainment “The field has always been fiercely competitive,” Shatkin says. He points out that many who can’t make it in other jobs resort to packing up and moving to Hollywood, betting on a slight chance of making it big. Now that the masses have less money to spend on entertainment, the industry has lost some of its sheen.

Finance Careers in finance have been hit harder than most. “It was oversold for a very long time, and now it’s hurting,” says Shatkin. He describes the nature of finance as extremely cutthroat. Many financial companies value experience, which puts recent college graduates at an immediate disadvantage. And since many former employees in the financial realm were laid off and are now looking for work, the competition is stiff.

Staying Smart
In the eight months since Shatkin’s book was published, the situation has gotten worse. “When I wrote the book, there was only the likelihood of a recession,” he says. “You never know you’re in a recession until you’re knee-deep. Nowadays, it’s harder to find a job, investments have lost value and layoffs are increasing. People’s retirements are at stake.”

Shatkin’s advice to freshmen? Get a well-rounded education. “We need people in liberal arts who understand science and math, and engineers and scientists who can write,” he says. By pursuing different subjects, students discover skills or talents they never knew they had. “You become more versatile and learn about yourself. Don’t limit it to schoolwork. Pursue out-of-class activities on campus as well.”

So perhaps it’s time to switch your major from economics to environmental science or from journalism to education. Make a smart move now and you might score a true recession-proof job later.

This blog post was copied from realcollegeguide.com

Guiding students and families through the college planning process has been life’s passion for Sharon McLaughlin, owner of McLaughlin Education Consulting. Ms. McLaughlin has over twenty years of experience as a college administrator in student enrollment management, specifically in admissions and financial aid. She holds a M. Ed in Adult Education is a member of several state financial aid associations (MASFAA, EASFAA & NYSFAAA) and is a National Institute of Certified College Planners (NICCP) certified college planner. For the past six years she has drawn on her expertise from her work at private and public colleges in New England to offer private college planning consulting to those wishing to attend college and graduate school. Recently, she began offering assistance to international students who are interested in attending US colleges.

McLaughlin Education Consulting offers structured services in admissions counseling, as well as, financial aid counseling. Through private, confidential counseling, Ms. McLaughlin works with students and parents to clarify/indentify academic and career goals. Then colleges are identified that meet those goals. Interview coaching, tutoring and test prep are also available. “The college admissions process can be overwhelming for parents and students alike, especially, in the last few years with increased competition for admissions to private colleges and the growing controversy about admissions testing. Now more colleges are ‘test optional’ and many students don’t know whether to take the SAT, ACT, both or neither. I’ll work with families to determine which test to take based on the student’s strengths and the colleges that have been identified and work out a strategy for taking the tests ”, explains Ms. McLaughlin. Admission counseling also requires keeping the family on track with the process and timeline: campus visit preparation, creating/narrowing a list of colleges, test and application deadlines.

Financing college costs is an increasing concern for clients, according to Ms. McLaughlin, in light of the rising cost of college and the down turn in the economy. “College and university endowments are down, and state budgets have effected funding for financial aid, so families question how to afford college”, she explains. McLaughlin Education Consulting provides a number of financial aid counseling services. Ms. McLaughlin will assess the family’s eligibility for financial aid, develop an education financial plan and strategies for controlling college costs, in addition to assisting with completing the FAFSA and College Profile. Early college financial planning is also available for parents with children in elementary and middle school.

Increasingly, I have families contact me with specific situations that don’t neatly fit into structured counseling services and have had trouble finding a college planner to work with them. I’ll tailor my services to address the situation. For example, I recently had a parent from RI who had a child from a previous marriage and wanted college planning advice. He was working with his financial planner to invest some assets, but wanted to know how various options would impact financial aid and his ability to assist with college expenses. His financial planner did not understand the financial aid process, so I performed an analysis of the effect of each investment option on the parent’s contribution to the college expenses. He was able to share that data with the financial planner and finalize his investment strategy”, adds Ms. McLaughlin.

Providing in depth, individualized college planning counseling to guide families through the college admissions process, head for college and attain their goals is the core mission for Ms. McLaughlin.

For more information about McLaughlin Education Consulting check out her website http://www.headforcollege.com. College planning information is available on her blog http://head4college-ne.blogspot.com .