I'm not the normal case (dropped away from uni due to personal issues, lucked out getting better work than some of my compatriots graduated into 18 months later

I'm not the normal case (dropped away from uni due to personal issues, lucked out getting better work than some of my compatriots graduated into 18 months later) and I've been in work for two decades & change (working on the same family if products, though I've been in several companies due to buyouts and such over the years), so I can't speak for the junior looking for work. One bit of advice I might suggest though is to consider the industry you end up working in: for instance those of us in companies targeting regulated industries tend to weather financial storms a bit better than others because the need to follow regulations doesn't fall away in fact if the behaviour of an industry is seen as a cause of a crash (here's looking at you, sub-prime lending) then regulation will increase and non-tech companies will want some way of implementing/monitoring/automating compliance with it. It might not be sexy work, but it is relatively recession-safe work. Though as others point out: networking, and just being good at working, and good at adapting to change, are important too. Even in a relatively safe position the cost cutting axe may fall (due to a slump in sales, or post-merger, etc.) and how well you work with the rest of the company or how key your experience & flexibility are seen as being, can be far more important than pure technical skill when it comes to keeping a safe distance from that blade.