TASK DEFINITION: Given the Question and Answer pair, detect whether the answer is acceptable or not. Denote acceptable answer as "yes", otherwise denote as "no". An acceptable answer is consistent with the context in question, detailed, long, and uses general knowledge of English. Answers that are not definite and suggest a variety of options are not acceptable answers.
PROBLEM: Question: The word year when pronounced starts with a phonetic sound of e which is a vowel sound making it eligible for being preceded by an. Yet, we tend to write a year. Why? 
Answer: I reject your premise that the word year starts with a phonetic sound of e. Here's how it is pronounced according to the various dictionaries: Wiktionary: (RP) IPA: /ji/, /j/, SAMPA: /ji@/, /j3:/; (US) enPR: yir, IPA: /ji/, SAMPA: /jir/ Merriam-Webster: \yirAmerican Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: /yir/ Collins English Dictionary: /j/ Words that start with the /j/ sound are preceded by an a, not by an an. Compare: a user, a utility, a yak.

SOLUTION: yes

PROBLEM: Question: If there are an odd number of competitors at any stage of a single-elimination tournament, one player is excused from play and continues on as if he had defeated his (nonexistent) opponent. This is called "getting a by". Or "getting a bye". Who knows, maybe it's even "getting a buy", although I doubt it. My dictionary lists by as meaning "pass" in card-games, so that suggests that spelling. On the other hand, the image of the referee looking from the single player, to the empty and undefended far side of the field, and then back to the player, shrugging, and saying "Bye", is too strong to easily discard. Like other parts of the anatomy, everyone's got an opinion. I'm looking for a cite. 
Answer: According to the OED, bye is correct word. b. The position of an individual, who, in consequence of the numbers being odd, is left without a competitor after the rest have been drawn in pairs. (OED also points out a few other uses of bye in sports, but with different meanings.) And while it specifically doesn't clarify whether the competitor advances, the American Heritage Dictionary does point that out. The position of one who draws no opponent for a round in a tournament and so advances to the next round.

SOLUTION: no

PROBLEM: Question: Assume that I give my work information in my CV with the date (year) intervals. My last position started this year and is continued at the moment. Example Co. ABC Manager 2012 - cont. How should I abbreviate continued here? Is cont. correct? 
Answer: There is no right or wrong with abbreviations, but you would do well to avoid them if possible. Here are three distinct pieces of advice: Just write "(continued)" (including parens), and you'll be fine. If you have some sort of mania for them, or horizontal-space consideration, then sure, write "(cont.)". It's a good idea to set it in italic, no matter what you do. In your case, though, you should probably write one of: 2012 present 2012 As those both look better than "2012 (continuing)".

SOLUTION:
no