Comments on: Top Career Choices in a Recession: But is This How We Should Be Selecting Jobs?

By: Michael

Michael — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 21:09:36 +0000

I think your last paragraph is the most important thing readers should take from this excellent post.

Being in my mid-30’s it would be easy to convince myself its too late to learn new things, but that would be the worst mistake anyone can make.

You can always learn new things. It is not only good to keep you well rounded from a professional point of view, but good for overall personal life as well.

michael

By: G.L. Konz

G.L. Konz — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 21:15:48 +0000

I am an environmental scientist working for the government–double wammy!! I find your comment about lazy people working for the government disconcerting. Sure there are a few bad apples here and there (in any field and sector) but many that I work with in government are the most hard-working, smartest, and committed individuals you will find (unless they are administration cronies). Many are in government not for high “net” worth but for “self” worth. It’s unfortunate that there is this perception that government employees are lazy.

By: Chris Guillebeau

Chris Guillebeau — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:16:43 +0000

How about this one – start your own microbusiness and work for yourself in one of these industries?

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 17:50:42 +0000

Having worked in healthcare, education (part-time) and now government.. the danger with many of these secure positions is that employees can become highly stagnated and lacking updated transferable job skills. The lure of a bi-weekly paycheck for essentially the rest of your life can diminish the hunger to keep your job skills and proficiency current.

I completely agree with your last paragraph as well. Keep your skills current, adapt to the ever-changing job market, and yes.. aim for self-suffiency. That is my goal with work, even though I’m looking at a steady paycheck for the rest of my life.

By: Curt

Curt — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 15:18:26 +0000

The best protection is to “Get Your Own Customers”

I would also put Software Development at the top of the list.

By: Will

Will — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:27:34 +0000

“If you have a boss other than yourself, you donâ€™t have job security.” You should have put that in bold.

Then again, not everybody is cut for the whole self-employed experience. It’s a roller-coaster ride, and quite frankly, most people are too attached to the “stability” of a regular paycheck.