U.S.News & World Report Profiles Recession-Resistant Careers

WASHINGTON, March 17 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S.News & World Report, the nation's leading source of news, analysis, and service journalism, announces its Career Guide 2008. This signature issue expands the Best franchise with its online companion, Best Careers 2008 package, available at http://www.usnews.com/careers. The cover story and accompanying articles focus on protecting and advancing one's career during turbulent economic times.

The selected careers are based on job satisfaction, job market outlook, ease of obtaining the necessary training, and pay. The online career guide also provides readers with information and tips to endure and prosper during the job squeeze and potential recession. The 2008 Best Careers are highlighted in the current magazine issue, on stands Monday, March 17.

The Best Careers online package offers comprehensive profiles of the Best Careers, Recession-Resistant Careers, Ahead-of-the-Curve Careers, and Overrated Careers, among others. Careers topping the 2008 Best of the Best list, which scored highest overall on U.S. News criteria, include Optometrist, Landscape Architect, Genetic Counselor, Clergy, and Higher Education Administrator

It is important to note that this year's list has changed significantly from 2007 Best Careers, which can be attributed, in part, to the number of college graduates growing at the same time as employers are offshoring and the increase of part-time professional positions. As a result, the best of blue- collar jobs are becoming quite attractive. The 2008 list includes four such careers: Biomedical Equipment Technician, Firefighter, Hairstylist/Cosmetologist, and Locksmith/Security System Technician.

    Additional highlights of the 2008 Best Careers:

    -- Recession-Resistant Careers: Optometrist, Clergy, School Psychologist,
       Physician Assistant, Biomedical Equipment Technician,
       Locksmith/Security System Technician, Hairstylist/Cosmetologist, Higher
       Education Administrator.

    -- Offshore-Resistant: Curriculum/Training Specialist, Genetic Counselor,
       Ghostwriter, Investment Banker, Mediator, Usability/User Experience
       Specialist.

    -- Quick Career Change.  People, especially in mid-life, don't have time
       for a multi-year back-to-school stint. These Best Careers don't require
       one: Ghostwriter, Government Manager, Hairstylist/Cosmetologist,
       Locksmith/Security System Technician.

    -- Ahead-of-the-Curve Careers. The Ahead-of-the-Curve careers are too new,
       small, or narrow to be considered a Best Career, but should hold great
       appeal to people who want to be on the cutting edge: Patient Advocate,
       Asian Business Development Specialist, Wellness Coach, Simulation
       Developer, Data Miner, Computational Biologist, Emergency Planning
       Manager, Green-Collar Consultant, Health Informatics Specialist.

    -- Overrated Careers: U.S. News has identified careers that are overrated
       relative to their popular perception. This list includes four of the
       most prestigious careers: Physician, Attorney, Medical Scientist, and
       Architect, plus one of the most undeservedly romanticized: Teacher
       (large percentages of teachers flee the field in the first few years).
       Other careers on this think-twice list: Chiropractor, Chef, Real Estate
       Agent, and Small-Business Owner.

U.S. News Best Careers selection criteria were based on comprehensive data and analysis, including:

    -- Job satisfaction, defined as spending a high percentage of time on
       activities that many people would consider rewarding or pleasant.
    -- Training difficulty, defined by the length of training typically
       required, adjusted by the amount of science and/or math involved.
    -- Prestige, based on an informal survey of college-educated adults.
    -- Job market outlook, based on data from the U.S. Department of Labor and
       professional organizations, with the career's resistance to being
       offshored taken into account.
    -- Pay, with data provided by payscale.com, which has an extensive
       database of individual employee compensation profiles.

Marty Nemko, U.S. News Contributing Editor and an award-winning career coach, oversaw the choices of the Best Careers. Nemko is the author of Cool Careers for Dummies, and is available to discuss the 2008 list of Best Careers in more detail. For more information and full profiles on all the careers in the Best Careers 2008 issue, visit www.usnews.com/careers.

About U.S.News & World Report

Founded in 1933, the weekly national news magazine U.S.News & World Report is devoted to investigative journalism and reporting, and to analyzing national and international affairs, politics, business, health, science, technology, and social trends. Through its annual rankings of America's Best Colleges, America's Best Graduate Schools, and America's Best Hospitals, and its News You Can Use(R) brand of journalism, U.S. News has earned a reputation as the leading provider of service news and information that improves the quality of life of its readers. The U.S. News website (www.usnews.com) extends that brand promise and delivers the best, most accurate information online, organized in an easily accessible way.