Last week I had an interesting conversation with an acquaintance. She is very close to retirement age and is sincerely hoping to be offered an early-retirement buyout the next time her company downsizes. Her problem – if you can call it a problem in this difficult employment reality – is that she is in a critical role, has a unique skill set, and is a consistently reliable performer. Her employer needs her. This is a very enviable problem to have – to be bulletproof in your job.

Do you remember a time, not too long ago, when all résumés ended with the obligatory line “references available upon request”? In today’s reality, where information about individuals is available with a mouse click, the phrase almost seems naive and contrived.

We can either thank or condemn (or both) the internet for giving us access to unfiltered opinions about individuals’ performance as more people and professions are being rated and ranked on these open sites. Welcome to the reputation economy!

As you check off the necessities on your interview preparation list - conservative business attire, research on the company, breath mints, turning your phone on silent, etc. - you should also think about the nontraditional issues that may arise during your interview. Nontraditional elements in an interview? Yes. Lately, companies are turning the conversation to taboo topics to see if you have what it takes to work under pressure. The restrictive economy means more than just less jobs, it means filling the rare empty spaces with candidates that are capable of handling the other stressors that the down economy brings. Competition is fierce in today's market, and interviewers want to be certain that their ideal candidates bring a bit of diplomatic spunk to the table.

Getting out there and networking face-to-face with business contacts and potential clients may be old-fashioned, but it's still one of the most effective ways to make a memorable impression and generate business. The way to build on that success is maximizing the chance that these contacts will in fact get in touch with you. And that essential action depends on yet another old-school business stalwart - the business card.

LinkedIn is sometimes referred to as Facebook for grown-ups. That may be true, as LinkedIn is a much more respectable site on which you can network, share information, and build relationships that can grow and support your career. Check out these tips to find out how you can use LinkedIn to make a change in your life and career.

General Advice - Pay attention to your manners, be a real person, and follow these tips to do well on LinkedIn:

1. Be polite: Remember your manners when interacting with others on LinkedIn.
2. Stay active: Update routinely-you don’t want it to look like no one’s home.
3. Keep an eye on your competition: Check out the public profile for companies to see who they are hiring and more.

A recent study by the employment services firm Manpower found that 84% of workers are planning to look for a new job this year. How about you? Are you in this majority?

Do you remember when the résumé debates were over the weight and color of paper? If the answer is "yes", your résumé might need more than a polish. It might need an overhaul. A lot has changed since you were last on the job market. For example, about 80% of employers, both small and large, are using an applicant tracking system (ATS). This means your résumé will probably be “read” first by computer software and not a human. Consider the technology:

The last blog post was about analyzing your pride experiences to get a better sense of your natural talents and abilities, the things you do you do better than most people, and your work values and preferences. The hope for this set of blog posts is that they will collectively provide you with various ways to gain insight about yourself and your ideal career. Once your talents, work values, etc. are identified, the overarching goal is to work in a career where you can leverage them in order to feel greater engagement and fulfillment from work.

Are you able to name your natural talents and abilities, the things you do you do better than most people? Do you leverage those in your career? If you are like many, the answer is “no” and “I don’t know.”

It seems logical that you would want your career to leverage your natural talents and abilities. It is simple, right? If you have great communication skills and are extroverted, you might enjoy customer service (and would likely feel unfulfilled working alone or only interacting with a computer). If you are very calm under pressure and like an adrenaline rush, you may thrive in a face-paced profession (one in which others would quickly burnout).

This guest blog post is by Andrew Neitlich the co-author of Guerrilla Marketing for a Bulletproof Career:

In today’s perpetually gut-wrenching economic times, no one is safe. The factors outside our control include: overnight economic shocks, technology disruptions, corporate scandals, emerging overseas competition, natural and man-made disasters, rapid changes in consumer preferences, government intervention, and – within a company – challenging bosses and co-workers. At any time, we could be ambushed and lose all or part of our income.