SIGNS OF SICK CAREER

• Seeing a job as a Career: Many employees feel that their jobs are same as their careers. Employees who reason like this do not understand that effort should be made to build a career out of the job. This is possible if there is an achievable CAREER ROADMAP. The employee will also grow the career by being successful on the job through further training to acquire new skills, efficiency and effectiveness.
• Not having a career Roadmap: The absence of a CAREER ROADMAP means that there is no career in the first place.
• Having a Career Roadmap that is not working: This is a sign that the career is sick. The candidate is not making any head way.
  Having a non executable Career Roadmap: The CAREER ROADMAP cannot be executed which means it was not well written or it was written without commitment or knowledge of how a career roadmap operates..
• Looking for a job instead of changing jobs after many years: Many applicants are still throwing CVs about looking for job after many years of working. Someone with a Career who has worked for many years should be head hunted or get jobs through referrals. This gives the applicant the opportunity to make choice and also negotiate every well, because he/she is not out of job. Some people after many years of working are terminated, sacked or retrenched or downsized. Then they are desperately looking for job without the power of negotiation.
• Being out of job for a long time: Being out of job without salary and other employment benefits is a sign of sick career. Anyone who is making career success is hardly out of job.
• Being out of business for a long time: Someone with career success makes success out of business. Therefore running a business down is a sign of sick career.
• Managing an unsuccessful business: Some people spend years managing businesses that are not successful. This is a sign of sick
  career.
• Having a non profitable job: A job is profitable if it pays the bills of the job holder. If this is not the case, it is a sign of sick career. • Having a non profitable business: If a business cannot pay the bills of the business owner, this is also a sign of sick career.
• Being in a toxic job: If an employee is in a toxic job, where there is no motivation (intrinsic or extrinsic). In this case there may be no pay increment even with increased job load. This is a sign of sick career. Such employee for lack of option may be forced to do what is not part of the job.
• Lack of knowledge of Career Management: When someone does not know what it takes to progress a job into a career, it is a sign of sick career. We have seen many footballers who played football at the highest level but did not progress into coaching, match officiating, football administration or any other football related career. Such footballers suffer from poverty because of lack of a CAREER ROADMAP for transitioning from football to a football related career or any other career.
• Changing jobs frequently: Some people believe that by changing jobs frequently, they are improving their CVs, not knowing that they are destroying their CVs. Someone who has worked in five companies in five years shows clearly that he/she has no career roadmap and is a rolling stone that gathers no skill, no knowledge and no experience.
  

Ezenwa Uche is a Human Resources Specialist and Consultant.