Sorry I still have to stand by arguments. Here are my remarks to your comments

#1 – This doesn’t compute. Your post is about how to retain your job in a recession when companies tend to layoff. Here is how I have seen companies respond to dips in economy
a. Put a hiring freeze in place throughout the company
b. Identify and layoff a % of employees – usually based on previous performance (or rather the lack of)
Rinse and repeat every few months till market snaps back or you are are running lean. How then does a company start a new project without having people to staff it ?. Adobe fired 10% of its employees and I very much doubt if they are starting a project that they will need a lead for.

The gist of your point is “try to become crucial for your project so you can’t be replaced ” and the gist of my argument is that the recession is already here – lots of layoffs already happened and it’s a bit too late to begin now to be crucial.

#5. Please. This is a very vague point. Having good blogging etiquette doesn’t make you popular. Popularity happens – hardwork is definitely very important – but “Go and become popular” is by no means an actionable answer for someone trying to save his job.

#6 – Ok agreed. I replied assuming you were talking about in-house training. I have had no experience otherwise.

#7. Don’t agree. Writing technical articles is *not* dead simple. It needs a lot of patience, lots of cross checking and did I mention competence ? I believe people capable of writing world class technical articles will not be worried about job security.

#8. I wasn’t even thinking about the government actually. I don’t have experience with govt employeers and I don’t know if they are “ok” hiring not so good people. I retract my earlier argument.

#3 & #4 – Being good is a real PITA. Unless you are blessed with a natural appetite for software – you need to put in tons of time reading and practicing. “Being good” doesn’t happen overnight – it takes months and depending on how you classify “good” it may take years. But really you are making no argument here – a good person wouldn’t be worried about job security as much and you simply don’t have time to start “being good”. To start “being good” now will be a PITA.

Interesting comments. Allow me to address:

#1 – Companies are starting new projects all the time. In my previous company I turned down the lead role on a few projects. If we had been in a recession I probably would have volunteered instead.

#5 – How to become popular? Hard work, amigo. I’m certainly not going to go into how to become popular in this comment box, but if you really want to know how to become a popular blogger, for example, read the book Blog Blazers.

#6 – We’re not talking about in-houce corporate training, we’re talking about training individuals, where they pay to update their skills and receive certifications. There is undeniable evidence that the training business picks up drastically during a recession, and if you have training/teaching skills you can pick up extra work as a trainer.

#7 – Really? Writing technical articles is dead simple. Ask anyone who’s done it. There’s no magic here.

#8 – “Recession proof companies tend to hire the best available folks” – haha, stop! You’re killing me! I worked for 2 recessions proof companies (the City of Pasadena and a Prepaid Credit Card Company), and let me tell you – they definitely did not hire the best people, and the best people have the same opinion as you – they don’t want to work for Walmart or the government. But that’s beside the point, of course, since this article isn’t about your job satisfaction, it’s about making it through the recession.

#3 & #4 – Really? Being “good” is a pain in the backside? Then I must say, it seems to me that someone with that opinion is destined to get canned in the first round of layoffs.