In either case, the best you can do is concentrate on the here and now. Believe it or not, there are some career fields that do quite well in a bad economy, making it that much easier to get a job. These are also the jobs that tend to remain secure in any type of economic hiccup, mainly because they keep a town’s infrastructure from falling apart.

So if you’re currently in a position of looking for new work opportunities, or you’re about to take your first step onto a career path, you might want to consider these four industries before you make a commitment:

Heathcare

This doesn’t mean you have to fork out the money for medical school after you just broke the bank paying for an undergraduate degree. Not everyone has to grow up to be a doctor. On the contrary, doctors are only a small fraction of the healthcare industry. Nursing, hospital administration, medical assistance, and nursing education are all areas of healthcare that currently offer well-paying jobs, even in a down economy. In fact, many cities can’t keep up with the demand right now, so they’re recruiting out-of-state.

And since nursing schools are more popular than ever, the need for teachers at nursing schools has grown considerably. Therefore, if you have skills in the areas of math, science, technology, or even the insurance industry, you could apply those skills at a nursing school, with just a little bit of extra training to get you up to speed as a teacher.

Law Enforcement

There is always a need for local policemen, and yes the risks can be high (depending on where you live), but the starting pay is good and the family benefits have remained some of the best of any given industry. Even though a college education is recommended, but not required, for a career in law enforcement, you’ll still have to complete the program at your state’s local police academy. Like the military, salary increases for police work are regular and attached to a pay scale based on rank. If you’re motivated you can work on increasing your rank (and thus, your pay) while on the job.

And if you enjoy the idea of law enforcement, but prefer the safety of a desk job, there are other areas you of the law you can go into, including dispatch, court reporter, paralegal, internal affairs, and even the local FBI. And of course, if you have the time and money you can go to law school. Private practice is lucrative (but unpredictable because you’re self-employed) however, state law offices are always looking for public defenders and assistant district attorneys.

Government Jobs

Everything from Nondestructive Tester for the Air Force to Physical Therapist at the Veteran’s Health Administration to Consumer Response Executive at the Treasury Department, the federal government is hiring right now. Why? Mainly because government has to keep running, even if (or especially if) the economy is in the dumper; but also because the stimulus bill has routed cash to a lot of government-related jobs.

So where do you find these jobs? The best place is to start at The USAJobs Working for America website. USAJobs is the official job website of the United States Federal Government. It’s the single repository for federal government job info for civilian positions, including who’s hiring and exactly where these jobs are located.

City Workers

Okay, some of these positions may not be glamorous, but they are steady work with decent pay and good benefits. Garbage collectors, meter maids, and street cleaners are in demand right now, and since they’re funded by the city payroll job security is typically not a problem (depending on how efficiently your city’s budget is maintained).

Ironically, librarians are also in demand right now (and are hired by the city), mainly due to the fact that many people looking for work use their local library as their “office” when searching job websites and typing up resumes. A librarian typically requires a college degree in library sciences, however, many libraries also hire library assistants, which requires less formal training.

So if you’re looking for a new career you might want to consider jobs that stand the test of time, even in an unpredictable economy. Although there’s no such thing as true job security you can at least stack the deck in your favor by choosing a career that’s as stalwart as your unwavering need to bring home a consistent (yet lucrative) paycheck.

Do you know of an additional career that defies the pressures of a bad economy? Or have you had success (or failure) with one of the careers mentioned above? Post a comment and let us know. We (and our readers) would love to hear about it.

The California state government will begin laying off 20,000 government workers starting today in an effort to respond to falling tax revenues and a $42-billion budget deficit. Layoffs will include workers in health and human services, corrections, and other agencies that receive money from the state's general fund. So, you thought government service was bad now? Wait until they take 20,000 more workers off the job. People will be camping overnight just to make sure they get their registration renewed. That is, until they realize that car registrations have gone up to $250.

This same trend is continuing in other states that have watched their breadwinner businesses fail while taking on additional debt to fund state projects. In fact, the majority of the states in the union are bankrupt, facing a crisis similar to California's.

So, it's time to face the facts: government jobs are not secure. Government jobs, in the end, are paid for with taxpayer money. When a recession hits, taxpayer money goes down. The result: government jobs are just as vulnerable as other jobs. It just takes a little while longer.

The lesson: its time for us to rethink all of our preconceived notions about jobs and spending and security. One thing is for sure: this recession will change the rules for everyone involved and those who survive with their shirts will be those who learn to rely on their own merits.