The phrase �reinventing yourself� seems to be popping up all over lately. Just a few days ago a friend asked me how he could do it without starting completely over. His concern was, �How do I move in a new career direction without sacrificing all the skills and experience I�ve worked so hard to achieve?� The underlying question is, �Is this even possible?�

Yes, it is possible to start fresh without starting over! Here�s how:

Here's a list of the top 10 tips you can use to advance your career:

1. Don't be afraid to say "I don't know." If you don't know something, say so; don't try to fake it.

2. Take responsibility for your actions. If you're at fault, admit it and take the blame. If you're wrong, apologize.

3. Never gossip. Gossip can hurt the careers of two people: the person being talked about, and the person doing the talking.

You don't want to stay in your current position forever... you want to move up! Here are 20 ways to boost your chances of getting that nice promotion:

Most people would agree that the concept of a job today is vastly different from that of 20 years ago. Organisations are changing at speed, technology has changed the face and pace of work, and globalisation is pushing every business to examine it's operations in a totally different context.

How do we, the people that work within this changing environment, manage our own needs and wants?

Unemployment is depressing: financial pressures stress you out, looking for work is humiliating, and your fragile self-confidence reels under the blows of indifference and rejection.

It becomes harder to get up in the morning, to take care of yourself, to be supportive and loving to those around you, to swing energetically into job search activities.

Here are 7 tips on beating those I-want-to-get-a-job-but-nobody-wants-me blues.

Here�s a newsflash: Cover letters work, plain and simple. This is why I�m intrigued by the fact that a) jobseekers rarely submit them and b) hiring managers seldom read them. As a result, I started asking questions. Specifically, �What�s your problem with cover letters?� Here�s what I found out.

I'll define what I mean by these terms. "The Controller" is a job seeker that is ruled by doing everything right. He/she has read all of the appropriate books, done a good job composing a resume, but is still unemployed.

"The Controllee" has also read all of the best books about the job search, has a credible resume, but is still without work.

What can each of them do to make their job search campaign: WORK.

What is "flow"? Flow as described by the psychology professor and educator, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, is a state of being and behavior. The behavior is one of complete absorption in a task. It is a transcendent state of being.

An example would be of a musician whose playing causes the person playing to lose sight of time, place & circumstances. Some people have called this a "divine rapture".

�R-E-S-P-E-C-T / find out what it means to me� is a line made famous by Aretha Franklin, and one that recruiters have adopted as their mantra. This is probably because there is a love-hate relationship between candidates and recruiters. Specifically, candidates love what recruiters can do for them, but at the same time, aren�t fond of the fact that they need their services.

Let's take a look at how many people win lotteries in a year's time. We all know the numbers are small.

But what if you won a lottery with oodles of money at your disposal. What would you do?

A lot of people immediately say: "They would quit their jobs". Others say: "They would travel". Some say: "I'd pay off my debts" A few say: "I'd help the world reduce its problems of disease, poverty, etc." It's possible for others to say: "I'd help my relatives".

It's true, no one wants to be ignored or rejected in any situation. The job search/interview rejection is painful.

If you have been looking for a job for some time, each refusal to hire you makes you feel angry and power- less.

Here are my suggestions to make each rejection less painful.

1. Do lots of interviewing practice, both formal and informal..

2. Apply for a job in many fields.

3. Know who you are, with a job and without.

4. Plan and make specific job goals.

Just for fun let's you and I, reader, consider that you are satisifed with your current career.

It's good to find out why. You have a good boss, good hours, good benefits and have a great chance of being promoted soon. You are lucky and fortunate. What are you doing for yourself that this good fate will continue? Are you preparing yourself for that promotion? How?

Lots of times I see and talk to people who are tired, bored and burnt out of their current jobs. I'm not sure what causes this dis- satisfaction. One reason, though, that I've thought about is that the work they are doing is not their life passion. Or, if it was, something in the person has changed or the passion needs to be re-kindled.

My definition of procrastination is that a person delays and delays actions that are required by a job or actions necessary to accomplish something in everyday life.

Depression is a mental state that "almost freezes" a person into no action at all.

While procrastination can be over- come by a change of behavior and attitude, depression has its core issues of lassitude, feelings of hopelessness, anger and of giving up.

It is rumored that the only word William Shakespeare wrote on his resume was �Available.� We�ll probably never know if that is true. But it raises an interesting question. How much information is too much and how much is too little when dealing with resume copy?

Going through the motions of a bad interview is like peeling back the layers of an onion. Sally learned this lesson the hard way, hands-on during an interview that should have been a piece of cake. Sally applied for a position that fit her qualifications perfectly. When she received an invitation to interview, Sally believed she was a shoo-in for the job. Feeling confident, she approached the interview in a lax manner. She didn�t prepare and prematurely celebrated an offer she was convinced would be extended.

At the end of the third job interview, Helene was told by the hiring manager, �Congratulations, I am going to recommend you for the position. Expect a call from HR.� Helene breathed a sigh of relief because her job search of six months was finally over.

Helene went straight home and waited by the phone all day. The phone never rang.

While most professionals hire a professional resume writer, some draft their own resume. People who write a lot for business usually have more success in putting together a sharp, focused presentation; still, anyone can learn the basic steps to prepare his or her own resume.

There are three major differences between a "strong" resume and an "o.k." resume:

1. FORMAT AND PRESENTATION DETERMINE WHETHER THE RESUME IS READ

As a job seeker, you shouldn't overlook the importance of a cover letter. If written strategically, a cover letter increases your chances for consideration, and provides an opportunity to highlight your individuality.

A cover letter is much more than just a letter stating, "I read the job announcement in Sunday's classified, please accept this letter as an application of interest". It is a statement that tells the reader what they can expect from you if hired.

During the job hunter's market of the 1990's, employers were settling for less than qualified candidates because the candidate pool was so small. Job hunters were able to name their price and employers were meeting their demands.

The job climate is much different today than it was a few years ago. Job hunters have forgotten how to present themselves to a prospective employer. Their job search skills are poor and they are struggling to find employment.

"So, why don't you tell me about yourself?" is the most frequently asked interview question. It's a question that most interviewees expect and the one they have the most difficulty answering. Though one could answer this open-ended question in a myriad of ways, the key to answering this question or any other interview question is to offer a response that supports your career objective. This means that you shouldn't respond with comments about your hobbies, spouse, or extra curricular activities. Trust me, interviewers aren't interested.

These days most people accept that jobs are not for life anymore. People are more mobile and much more likely to change jobs every few years and even careers a number of times throughout their lives. And it is increasingly common that we may also find that we need to change jobs because of retrenchments, redundancies and closures. Having confidence in your skills and experience and your ability to deal with the challenges of starting over can give you a greater sense of confidence about your career, and whatever life brings your way.

As children we often used to read stories where magical words can open caves filled with treasures or magicians using words like abracadabra... sim sim.. and magically things appear out of thin air.

Resume Keywords are the magic carpet that carry your application to the shortlisted files. It is especially important when thousands of resumes are recieved by the HR and the entire process is digitised. The sorting and shortlisting from a digitised data bank is done through keywords.