With some economists estimating the "real unemployment" rate now at more than 17 percent, many employees lucky enough to still have their jobs are now trying to do everything they can to hold onto them.

These workers are asking themselves: "How do I keep my job? How can I make myself indispensable at work?"

Author and Yale MBA Ingrid Stabb may have the answers. In her well-received book, "The Career Within You," Stabb says that playing to career strengths that are natural to personality type makes employees invaluable in the workplace.

"The Career Within You," co-authored with personality-type expert Elizabeth Wagele, uses an innovative strengths assessment questionnaire to help readers determine what intangible internal assets can be capitalized on for job security.  Here are some of the ideas and tips to help you keep your job.

Boost your productivity perception

Recent studies show that unlike in years past when your age or a high pay rate might have caused you job security worries, these days your position is solid as long as you are perceived as highly productive.

Socialize just enough

Make an effort to socialize with younger coworkers to be seen as an integral part of the team’s morale. Attend company happy hours or girls’ nights out. Celebrate birthdays and invite individuals in other departments to lunch. See and be seen in the political landscape of the company. However, be sure to also protect your image as a highly productive employee.  Make sure you don’t talk so much at work that you are slowing down operations around you.

Be known for productive emails

So many people get caught in the trap of spending three minutes apiece on up to 100 daily emails amounting to five hours a day of reading and responding.  At this rate, the company is investing over half of your salary into email management. With this time sink, you might as well change your current title to “Specialist In Charge of Email,” but this is not why your boss hired you. Here are some tips for taming the inbox beast: use the subject line to summarize, e.g. “Subject: Decision on t-shirt order needed by Thursday.” Avoid “replying all” and using “bcc” because it proliferates responses back to you as well as the time others need to spend reading your emails. Edit forwarded messages by adding a summary sentence the reader can scan in a few seconds rather than scrolling for several minutes through a long thread to search out the crux of the message. Respond to people with one-two sentences instead of one-two paragraphs! And turn off the notification pop-up boxes on your screen so that you can focus on finishing your important projects only to check email at set intervals each day.

Look energetic

Don’t let your appearance lie about your skills and productivity. Keep your appearance up-to-date and fresh so that you don’t give the impression your computer skills are as outdated as your ten-year-old sweater. Update your hairstyle and glasses to fit the latest trends. Go shopping once a quarter for a new outfit, jacket or shoes. Stay physically fit.  If you look too sedentary people might assume you move slowly on your work too.

Make personal calls during lunch

Avoid being overheard at your desk scheduling doctor’s appointments or chatting with your daughter about planning your grandson’s birthday party. While your conversations may be short, it’s best to reserve them for calls from your cell phone outside of the office. Even if you are a hard worker, it’s best to avoid creating the wrong impression that you spend a lot of time on personal calls at work.

Reduce clutter on your desk

Many people decorate their desks as though it was their living room or hobby room. While you enjoy the comfort of your personalized work space, consider packing up the extended family gallery, knick-knacks, and goldfish bowl. To get perspective on how your desk is perceived, look at the desks of successful people in your office. Notice most of those desks are practically empty with minimal decoration. While this advice may seem superficial, you are likely to appear more professional with a more stark-looking desk.

Ride the growth wave

Do you see the writing on the wall that your job won’t be indispensible for long? Are your colleagues’ jobs getting outsourced overseas? Given the trends in your industry, maybe it’s time to start planning your next move. Consider taking classes at night or online to prepare for switching to a field where studies show that job openings will grow by over 25 percent in the next decade. Now is your chance to dream about ways you’d love to reinvent yourself!

Hot jobs for the next decade include: advertising consultant, animal trainer, building inspector, chiropractor, computer security expert, counselor, court reporter, dental hygienist, detective, education administrator, environmental protection technician, financial advisor, forensic science technician, gaming supervisor, government human services assistant, highway patrol pilot, home care aide, junior college instructor, interpreter/translator, network/systems administrator, land surveyor, landscape manager, make-up artist, medical assistant, multimedia animator, museum curator, nurse, paralegal, pharmacy technician, physical therapist, personal fitness trainer, pre-school teacher, social worker, skin care specialist, software developer, veterinarian and technical writer.

Hang on to a recession proof job

You may be one of the lucky ones in a job that studies determine to be “recession proof” for years to come. If you are in one of these roles, hang on to it! Find new ways to re-energize your role by developing yourself right where you are. Here are jobs expected to be recession-proof over the next decade:  accounting staff, administrative assistant, almost any information technology role, counselor, customer support representative, dental hygienist, gaming supervisor, government contracts administrator, maintenance/repair worker, massage therapist, medical assistant, nurse, physical therapist, teacher, teacher’s aide, project manager, quality assurance specialist, recruiter, religious worker, sales representative, social worker, and speech language pathologist.

Make your boss look good

Get clear about what performance metrics management cares most about so that you can plan how to get noticed in 2011. What problems are your managers struggling with now? Is the company losing revenue? Propose a new money-making idea based on something you constantly hear customers requesting. Is your boss caught in an internal political struggle? Ease the political situation for your boss during lunch or at the company happy hour by building bonds of friendship with coworkers in competing departments. Are customers complaining about poor customer service? Solve service inefficiencies by posting a helpful FAQ on your department’s internal wiki.  When a customer is pleased with how you solved a difficult problem, ask for a testimonial and write up a case study that your boss can submit for a department service award. Figure out which extra efforts on your part that you will not only enjoy making but will also help your boss and upper management look good.  A few well-chosen activities can turn your managers into your greatest advocates. Picture them proudly touting a news article about the company that features one of your initiatives or picture yourself receiving a company award for a customer service initiative they are focused on this year.

Update your boss on your contributions

Whether or not they are required, provide your boss with daily, weekly and monthly reports of your accomplishments. When possible, quantify them, such as “closed out 20 trouble tickets,” “interviewed three candidates” or “increased leads by 10 percent over last year’s tradeshow.” Set up a recurring one-on-one meeting with your boss either every week or every two weeks. Once a year, take a few days to write a detailed self-evaluation to make it easier for your boss to write your annual review.

Show the best side of your personality

One study showed that people who are easy-going and well-liked are least likely to be laid off, whereas the trouble makers are the first to go. Be nice to all your co-workers—you never know who will advocate for you. Also, if your bosses find you a pleasure to work with, they will often overlook deficiencies in your skill-level. If your boss asks you, “Did you solve that problem yet?” and you haven’t even started, but you reply in a reassuring tone, “You know, this is a sticky one, but I have some ideas of how this afternoon I can narrow down our options,” your boss will feel relaxed knowing you are working on it and give you several more days to find a solution.

Become the go-to person

Start collecting a larger number of useful resources in well-organized paper files or email folders. Think a few days or weeks ahead of your boss and co-workers. Figure out what forms and reports they might need and keep the copies ready at your fingertips. You’ll impress everyone when they are suddenly scrambling for information and you save the day with the right resources at the right time.

Invest in your own skill development

Many employees don’t realize that their corporations offer tuition reimbursement for accredited training programs. Read the fine print of your on-boarding packet from human resources. Often your company will pay 100 percent for a one-week seminar or even a full degree. You may be able to access significant funds for your own professional development in topics ranging from public speaking to using software programs (such as Microsoft Office, Photoshop, Flash, Web Design, Business Intelligence software and computer programming languages).

Use Your Personality Type to Your Advantage

If you’re a Perfectionist, it’s time to improve things! Organize the office’s storage shelves. Create an up-to-date filing system. Treat customers with more decorum than they experienced in the past with other company representatives. Start a recycling program at your office.

If you’re a Helper, meet the needs of others. Leave a thoughtful card on a co-worker’s desk when she is feeling down. Create a feel-good atmosphere during long meetings and bring snacks to help people power through. Generate helpful reports to show how team members can improve the bottom line. Go the extra mile by leading the organizing committee for the company holiday party.

If you’re an Achiever, help enhance your office’s successful image. Kick-start an initiative by getting everyone excited about it. With your excellent public speaking skills, offer to give presentations that will inspire people. Help your employer compete for an award and infuse everyone with your drive to win. Push the team to work on a Saturday to ensure Monday’s presentation is perfect.

If you’re an Artist type, help bring a unique twist to your group’s projects. At meetings, make insightful comments to show you have thought profoundly about your work. Help colleagues understand the different meanings they will be expressing by choosing one logo design over another or one phrase in a staff email over another. Assist in the remodeling choices for the foyer so that everyone feels more pride about the new appearance of the office entrance.

If you’re an Observer, acquire information that helps the whole team work smarter. Provide a spreadsheet of your careful calculations that everyone can use to avoid making their own calculation mistakes. With your incredible focus, at night keep thinking about a problem until you figure out the clever short-cut that operations can use to run more smoothly. Listen objectively at meetings and gently share your observations with your natural sensitivity for people’s feelings.

If you’re a Questioner, help reduce risk at work. Carefully test a process to uncover any flaws in the system. Keep practicing one of your tasks until you get the process down perfectly. Share your healthy dose of skepticism at meetings, making sure the team has explored all sides of an issue—save the team from a costly mistake!

If you’re an Enthusiast, help your team explore new possibilities. Lean on your social networking skills to bring in new business and generate new ideas for your department. Share your optimism to uplift everyone’s spirits. Bring a little bit of playfulness during difficult projects so that everyone has fun in the process and enjoys working at the company.

If you’re an Asserter, set clear boundaries. Win advantages for your company as a tough negotiator—secure a good price from your vendor. Enforce the rules so that no one cheats when ordering supplies and no one shows up to work late. Take on conflict when it’s called for, such as sticking up for employees who are being mistreated.

If you’re a Harmonizer, help create a peaceful work environment. Reduce conflict in the office and put people at ease. At meetings, share the big picture and help people understand each other’s point of view. Be adaptable so that your boss and customers want to work or collaborate with you. Take on the difficult clients.  Your co-workers and boss will find you indispensible.

Career expert Ingrid Stabb is the co-author of "The Career Within You" and a Yale MBA.