Recession-proof jobs: Software design, network administration, IT security

The 25 most recession-proof jobs include several technology-focused career paths, such as software design and development, networking and systems administration, and IT security specialists, according to an analysis by Jobfox, a career Web site.

Podcast: Economic crisis hits IT jobs hard

Jobfox looked at the 120-day period ending Oct. 28 and ranked professions based on demand from recruiters and other employer agents using the online service. Sales reps and business development professionals came in first, while tech jobs showed up four times in the top 25.

With median salaries of $75,000 to $85,000, software design and development was the fifth-most recession-proof job. Networking and system administration was in seventh place and commanded $55,000 to $65,000 in median salary.

Technology executives, making $105,000 to $115,000, were the 16th most in-demand, up from a prior ranking of 24, according to Jobfox. IT security moved into the top 25 list at No. 20, with the field commanding a median salary of $75,000 to $85,000.

Database administration, meanwhile, dropped out of the top 25 list. The rankings provided Jobfox’s first look at the job market after the government bailout of the finance industry.

The IT sector seems to be faring well compared to the overall economy. In last week’s newsletter, we looked at U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers that show the IT profession actually added jobs in October even as the rest of the job market contracted.

Still, a drop in the number of available tech jobs was seen on Dice, a job site for tech pros.

There were 75,640 available technology jobs as of Nov. 3, down from 84,549 on Oct. 1. The number of full-time jobs dropped from 59,952 in October to 54,090 in November.

Current numbers of job postings are also down relative to this time period last year, Dice chief marketing officer Tom Silver notes in his monthly newsletter.

“In the past 12 months, the weak economy has been gnawing at the tech sector – in the last 30 days, it has taken a bite – as job postings on Dice have fallen 20% versus last year,” Silver writes. “To be sure, there is still a lot of demand with 75,000 open tech positions.”

The metro areas with the most job listings were Washington, D.C./Baltimore and New York/New Jersey, with more than 8,000 postings each. Silicon Valley had 4,486 tech job postings on Dice, with Chicago, Los Angeles and Boston offering between 3,300 and 3,500 each.