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By Sia Hasan
Special to the Financial Independence Hub
It seems safe to assume that 2020 has been considerably different than what you expected when you first started your higher education. Back then, your future may have seemed assured. Though things are more uncertain now, do not give up hope. There are still opportunities available to you.
Even if there were not a pandemic, chances are good that you would not have been able to acquire your dream job immediately upon graduating anyway, due to your lack of experience. While the economic fallout of COVID-19 is troubling in many ways, this may be an opportunity for you to pursue a new career option that you might not have thought of before, one that offers you more stability or teaches skills that you can transfer to your chosen field. Here are some of the top recession-proof career options for newly minted graduates:
1.) Attorney
If your dream is to become a Phoenix criminal defense lawyer or attorney in another practice area, there is no need to give that up. Granted, your career path may have to take some detours as the bar exam has been rescheduled in some states. Nevertheless, there will always be a need for people with in-depth knowledge of the law to represent the interests of ordinary citizens.
2.) Teacher and Teacher’s Aide
Even before the pandemic, traditional classroom education was adapting to new technologies that allow for distance learning. Nevertheless, someone will always have to be there to provide instruction to students, whether in person or online. Distance and on-demand learning offer advantages such as flexible scheduling to teachers as well as students. Granted, if you wish to pursue a nontraditional career path in education, you must make sure that not only your teaching credentials but your technological literacy levels are in impeccable order.
3.) Health Care Professional
The medical field encompasses a broad range of professionals, not only doctors and nurses but physicians assistants, lab technicians, physical therapists, and many more. There are also health care professionals not involved directly in patient care, such as administrative support staff and medical records technicians. All have a vital role to play in providing adequate health care while protecting patient safety.
Health care professionals will still be in high demand even after the pandemic eventually subsides. There is always a need for patients to receive treatment for medical conditions. Even before COVID-19, health care professionals were aggressively sought after. Physicians and other professionals belonging to the baby boom generation are nearing retirement age, and more providers are needed to care for boomers as they become more vulnerable to age-related disease and disability.
4.) Actuary
You might be surprised that financial services are in greater demand during an economic downturn. However, when one’s financial situation is less stable, it becomes more important to keep careful tabs on it.
During challenging economic times, managing risk becomes even more important. An actuary has a particularly vital role to play as someone who analyzes financial consequences to develop and communicate solutions for businesses.
5.) Utility Worker
Public utilities such as sanitation, water, and electricity are critical to protecting public health and maintaining order. Even during a pandemic — perhaps especially during a pandemic — these services must continue. Therefore, those who maintain the power grid, pick up trash and recycling, and manage wastewater can all count on job stability regardless of the crises that threaten the economy.
6.) Funeral Director
Death is one of life’s inevitabilities and it does not stop when the economy takes a turn for the worse. It may sound morbid, even sadistic, but there is another way to look at it. People who have lost a loved one are often beside themselves with grief, making it difficult to think about the necessary practical matters that a death in the family gives rise to. As a funeral director, you provide a necessary, even compassionate, service by guiding them skillfully through the process of planning the ceremony celebrating the loved one’s life.
As a 2020 graduate, you may not have exactly the job opportunities that you anticipated. However, you can set off on your career path even if you have to take an initial detour.
Sia Hasan is a tech entrepreneur by day, and a freelance writer by night. Her passion lies in business technology, efficient and sleek programming, and customer relationship management. When she doesn’t have her nose pressed against her computer screen, you can find her spending time with the loves of her life, her two dogs, Pixel and Vector.
