Go above and beyond in your work, and eventually others will see the results, and good things will start to unfold, author Barbara Pachter points out. "The most important thing is to be straightforward. Otherwise, it might not be that your boss is playing favorites, but rather they just don't know what you want," writes Vivian Giang.

Rotate between three tasks every hour or so with a short rest period in between to break the monotony of focusing on one single task for an extended period of time. Adding artificial deadlines to your work may also help you get more done without focusing so much on the minute details that tend to slow down your progress, writes Caroline Ceniza-Levine.

Career and technical education programs at some high schools are integrating courses in robotics, unmanned aviation technology and mechatronics to help prepare students for in-demand jobs in these fields. A Maryland high school offers a four-year Aerospace Engineering & Aviation Technology program and is constructing an indoor space for students to practice operating drones.

Ongoing learning is the key to preparing for middle-skill jobs, which are those requiring less than a bachelor's degree, but more than high school diploma, writes Jeffrey Selingo. Middle-skill job openings are expected to grow significantly as baby boomers retire, and ongoing training to keep up to date with changing technology is the key to securing a job within this sector, Selingo adds.

Time between jobs, whether due to a layoff or family responsibilities, can give you a chance to evaluate your career goals and discover new opportunities through volunteering, networking or taking a vacation. "It's really about approaching the time you have off intentionally," said career coach Amy Wolfgang.

A new crisis hotline from nonprofit group Empower Work launched recently to help overwhelmed and stressed workers deal with particularly tough situations at work. The service utilizes texting rather than phone calls, along with trained counselors rather than bots.

Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences have used an egg from one female mouse and a haploid embryonic stem cell from another female -- which was gene edited to render the two cells compatible -- to make healthy mice babies. While this study of same-sex reproduction was successful, the scientists have said that the process is an extremely long way off from possibly being replicated with humans.