It’s time for our annual highlights, our compilation of our favorite advice of the year.

This also is a good time to remember the readers who send us their questions and success stories: Thank you for your help in making it a great year for our work, and may the coming year be your best yet.

The year’s best advice:

¢ On getting to work for a great boss. If we define great bosses as the top 10 percent of managers, then as you work for a number of different managers, it would seem that the odds would turn to your favor. But that’s not the way it works. Great bosses rarely resort to the traditional job market. Everyone wants to work for them, and the best employees seek them out, outside the traditional job market.

¢ On the “gray tax” of age discrimination. You might have heard the expression “black tax,” which suggests that people of color have to work harder to be thought competent and get ahead. Well, there’s a “gray tax,” too. You pay up by working even harder on the job search. You don’t just send more resumes and answer more ads, you also put your experience to work by contacting all the local firms in those industries in which you’ve worked. They’re more likely to appreciate your knowledge. In other words, start using your hard-won wisdom to find openings before the competition does.

¢ On recent grads getting a first career job. The reason you see so many ads and postings for three to five years’ experience is that most companies don’t need to advertise for recent grads – they have plenty applying. So your task is to either apply to places others don’t or else offer something the other applicants don’t. For instance, one recent grad, whose only experience was a string of student jobs, put at the top of his resume, “Excellent writer,” followed by, “Work experience in both office and retail settings.” That headline tells what differentiates you. You either have a college experience that makes you stand out, or you are left standing in line with all the other recent grads.

¢ On “nailing” an interview. You usually “nail the interview” before going in. It happens when you have done your research and are already focused on what the hiring managers will be thinking instead of just focusing on what you are going to say.

¢ On helping people help your search. Most people who work at good companies hear, “Is your company hiring?” all the time. They hear it so often that they don’t really give it a thought, automatically offering up an outright “no” or a soft “no” (“I’ll keep my ears/eyes open”). Imagine how much more intriguing it is for such people to be asked, “How good is the design group at your company?” or “What’s the head of the department like?” That gets the other person’s mind engaged, yielding valuable information on people who can become part of your target list.