Recession

With the national unemployment rate still painfully high, the competition for jobs is fierce. Millions of Americans are looking for work, and hundreds – and sometimes thousands – of resumes flood employers for every job opening.

The lackluster economy has put many jobs on the chopping block. However, there are some jobs that seem to weather bad economic times better than others.

Effie Hightower-Thurman had worked as an accountant for 20 years -- without a college degree. But in a twist, in May 2009, she was asked to train a successor based in India. Then she was laid off and has been out of work since.

Careers have been hard to come by since the beginning of the recession. Because a number of those who are job searching are older individuals who were laid off from their last profession, it has become increasingly difficult to find careers in a number of fields. Many individuals who have graduated are also finding themselves having to take temp jobs as a way to bolster their experience against their job competitors with higher qualifications.

Surveys show that office romance is on the rise, fuelled by – of all things -- the recession.

Whether teaching basic addition or advanced physics, many educators pursue careers in education to realize the rewards of giving students skills they can independently use for the rest of their lives. While some teachers spend their entire young adulthoods preparing for their dream job, many go back to the classroom after long careers in other industries.

Careers in information technology have emerged out of the need to streamline business practices and reduce waste. Those adept at deciphering the strange dialects of computer programming may find that jobs in this field are vital to innovative business strategies and overall growth. In fact, mired in the economic downturn, businesses are calling on computer-savvy professionals to be the heroes of the recession.

The generation of young adults known as Millennials has begun to develop new workplace expectations as they meet layoffs caused by the recession.

Companies trying to survive the worst recession since the 1930s have to realize that the old ways of doing things aren't going to work; they must evolve.

Despite a weakened economy, there are travel deals and discounts available for people, though the only way to get access to them may by employing the services of a travel agent.