Roustabout, according to Forbes.com.  I didn’t know what a roustabout was/did either.

Roustabouts are the workers who assemble and repair oil and gas field equipment. They do other unskilled work around rigs like cleaning up spilled oil, moving pipes to and from trucks and guiding cranes that move loads around decks.

It’s hard and dirty work, and in the labor hierarchy of oil rigs, roustabouts are a notch below roughnecks.

Don’t you just love the American economy?  Never ceases to amaze me.  Of course, there is always the other side of the coin.  The disappearing jobs:

The disappearing jobs list also reflects the continuing long-term decline of no- and low-skilled manufacturing jobs in the U.S.–sewing machine operators, engine assemblers, machine tool setters, home appliance repairers and textile knitting machine operators.

There are some surprises: Actors and tax examiners show up on the disappearing list, which is topped by entertainers who performed in places like amusement parks and arcades–or at least who used to.

I could name quite a few actors who I would like to see disappear, but that is a post for another day.

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The Career News (sorry, no link) references an article regarding job market growth in 3 specific sectors (my bold):

While hiring in the financial and consumer discretionary sectors has clearly been impacted by the continued fall-out from the mortgage market collapse, the technology, healthcare and defense sectors are all adding to their executive-level ranks nationwide.

There were 12,000 more $100,000+ jobs posted on TheLadders in the first quarter of 2008 than there were in the first quarter of 2007. The recession is grabbing the headlines, but there are always countercyclical segments of the market that thrive in a down economy. The reports are showing a lot of reliance in this marketplace.

This fact is always true – while some markets flounder, others flourish.  In recruiting, selling, job hunting, etc., the key is to focus on the segments that are in strong growth mode.

One other tip is to understand that the media is prone to sensationalism in their reporting.  After all, their business is to keep your viewership, listernership or readership…and to do that they must hold your attention.  Recessions, market collapses, stock market drops, etc. are all sensational vehicles to hold attention.

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