What Are the Hardest Careers to Find a Job In? 

Not all careers make it easy to find a job after graduation. According to a study by Conare (a group of public universities in Costa Rica), there are 19 majors where many graduates struggle to find work or end up doing something unrelated to what they studied.

Some of the careers with the most difficulties include Geography, Visual Arts, International Trade, Tourism, Social Work, and Graphic Design.

This info comes from the 2022 Labor Snapshot, which looked at over 10,000 graduates from public universities who finished their degrees between 2017 and 2019. The study found that 19 majors had unemployment rates higher than 12.2%.

Here are some of the most challenging careers for finding a job:

• Technical Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources – 26.3% unemployment

• Health Services Administration – 21.1% unemployed

• Health Promotion – 19.1%

• Geography – 17.4%

• Spanish Language Teaching – 17%

• Ecology – 16.3%

• Environmental Health – 16%

• Visual Arts – 15.3%

• Graphic Design – 14.3%

• Preschool Education – 14.1%

• Spanish Literature and Linguistics – 13.6%

• International Trade – 13.2%

• Tourism – 12.8%

• Health Records – 12.5%

• Gender Studies – 12.5%

• Social Work – 12.4%

• Social Studies Teaching– 12.4%

• Biology – 12.2%

• History – 12.2%

This doesn’t mean these careers aren’t worth studying — but it’s good to know where the job market is more competitive or limited, so you can plan better for the future.

FINDING A JOB

Costa Rica 2030

You will work with each and every classmate to role play a situation at a job fair. Start working in 3 subgroups. 

One of the groups will play the role of Human Resource Managers working for McDonald's, Nissan and Procter & Gamble. The HRM will work together to design questions for the applicants following the criteria below. Use the phrases on the top left corner as a guideline. Be creative! Remember that you have to choose the BEST CANDIDATE for each company to grow and continue being successful. Your interest is the company's interest.

The other two groups are applicants who want to work for any of the companies. Be advised that your attitude as well as your aptitudes will be taken into consideration by the human resource managers. Your professional profile is the one you think you will have 5-6 years from now. Use the ideas on the second column of the information on the top left corner of the picture below to help you design your profile. Be professional during the interviews. Don't exaggerate. Remember that you will be hired for the qualities that companies find valuable for them to grow and continue being successful. 

After finishing the interviews, the HRM will tell the rest of the class who will be hired and why. Explain why you choose a particular candidate.