Commoditization in the US is already a done deal through offshoring and H1B visa abuse. Lots of good advice is dispensed here on HN when these topics come up on how people have successfully dodged the trend. one path I don't see mentioned much around here (for good reasons) is going into sales. Good sales people who also know the technical side and can present that technical side without "going geek" are extremely rare and recession-proof, but the initial sales ramp up learning curve when you're cold-calling out of prospect lists is brutal on the ego if you've never done that sort of activity.