Crash courses

Illustration: Ian Keltie

On a personal level, a weak economy may translate to fewer job opportunities, a stagnant income, or even the dreaded pink slip. There is an upside, though. Shaky financial times can provide the incentive—or in some cases, the push—you need to take stock of your career and decide whether you need to sharpen your skills, go after a higher degree, or change your career altogether.

Forge a new path

If you’ve been the victim of downsizing, or are anxious about your job’s future, it could be time to reconsider your calling. Of course, you need to consider your personal interests and the educational investment it will take to launch your new career. But a key point to mull over is whether the field you choose has a strong, growing job market or is at least traditionally recession-resistant.

“There are a few areas that are always consistent in job demand,” says Emily Westerman, associate director of the Office of Career Management at the New York University School of Continuing and Professional Studies (212-998-7200, scps.nyu.edu).

Among these, she says, are education (kids will always have to go to school), health care (people will keep getting sick), certain areas of law (think bankruptcy law), accounting and security (taxes and crime are here to stay). Health care offers one of the biggest job markets: Physician assistants, physical therapists and pharmacists will be in high demand for years to come, catering to an aging population and more people living with chronic diseases. Then there’s the perennial shortage of nurses; in absolute numbers, registered nurses are expected to see the single-largest employment increase over the next eight years.

“Actually, we see a higher enrollment during times of recession—and war,” says Harriet R. Feldman, dean and professor of Pace University’s Lienhard School of Nursing (914-773-3552, pace.edu). “People know there is security, and nursing is a diverse field with many types of positions you can go into.” Beyond hospitals, she notes, nurses can work in settings such as home health, community health clinics and corporate health centers, and as teachers in nursing schools.

Pace offers a combined bachelor of science in nursing/master’s degree program that is specifically designed for career-changers—people who have undergraduate degrees in another field and lack some coursework necessary for the graduate program. The whole process can be completed in two and a half years if you go full time; part-time study is also an option.

There are also less-traditional ways to get into health care. Art therapy is a growing field that uses creative expression, such as painting, drawing or sculpting, to help treat mental, emotional and behavioral problems. Professional, or even amateur, artists can learn to channel their creative energy into a career as a therapist, according to Deborah Farber, chair of the graduate program in art therapy at the School of Visual Arts (212-592-2050, sva.edu). And there are plenty of job opportunities.

“The field has grown exponentially over the past 20 years,” says Farber, noting that art therapy gained more recognition after September 11, when so many media images showed people spontaneously expressing their emotions through drawings. Art therapists now work with everyone from preschoolers to the elderly, in schools, hospitals, nursing homes, shelters and psychotherapy clinics.

Another area that is growing, and not swayed by recession, is the nonprofit field. It might seem counterintuitive to bank your future on a field where profit isn’t the bottom line, but in New York, nonprofits employ more people than the storied financial services and garment industries combined—and they are looking for more, says Lucas Rubin, director of the master’s program in fund-raising management at Columbia University School of Continuing Education (212-854-9699, ce.columbia.edu). “That sector of the economy is doing well.”

Fund-raising is obviously integral to the nonprofit world, and the academic world is taking notice; both Columbia and NYU now have master’s programs in fund-raising. Many people entering the Columbia program are career changers who’ve become disenchanted by the for-profit sector and want to work for a cause they care about, Rubin says. They come from many professional backgrounds, but some common threads are that they have a passion—promoting the arts, protecting the environment, aiding the homeless—and they are people persons. Fundamental skills you’ve developed in your current career—you’re a strong writer, persuasive speaker or great organizer—can translate well into the fund-raising arena.

“If you work on Wall Street, for example, you are probably comfortable discussing money with people, which you have to be in fund-raising,” Rubin says. “Or if you’re an actor, you are probably a good communicator. A lot of it is about people skills.”

Similarly, the master’s program in nonprofit management at Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy (212-229-5462, newschool.edu) attracts many “section switchers” who are unfulfilled by corporate life, according to Mark Lipton, chair of management programs.

“The opportunities are there,” he explains, “not only because nonprofits are increasing in size and number, but because there is also an enormous wave of baby boomers in leadership positions who are retiring.”

Running a nonprofit differs from managing a for-profit business, but it demands the same level of professionalism, Lipton says, and that’s drawing more people from the private sector. “And the nonprofits have open arms for them.”Of course, not everyone has a singular passion in life that points toward a new career. If you know you need a change, but that’s all you know, there are courses for you too.

At NYU-SCPS, the Office of Career Management has a host of courses on career transition (like “Mid-Career Change” and “Career Match: Connecting Who You Are With What You Want to Do”), and on career options in particular fields. A new one-day course this fall looks at the hot topic of “green careers.” With the increase in public demand for eco-friendly products and business practices, going green has become good for a company’s bottom line. That means there are new professional possibilities in many industries. Finance pros, for instance, would do well to be knowledgeable about socially responsible investing, while green building design is becoming an important area for architects and engineers. Concern about the environment is not a passing trend, notes NYU’s Westerman. “This is good for people who are passionate about the environment and who are looking for a niche area that is growing,” she says. (See our roundup of green courses.)