Have you ever had some task follow you from job to job? Transferred divisions in a company and ended up doing the same kind of thing?
For instance, suppose you got lumped with sorting out your department’s filing. You finally escape somewhere else, only to get the same job again?
If so, you’ve just been bitten by a Career Zombie.
They can be anything – some task, some topic, some area of responsibility. But no matter what you do, where you run, the Career Zombie will be lurching along behind you. They may be slow, but they’re determined, and they want to eat your brains!
And there is almost no way to get rid of them. Every time you think you’re done, some new element comes along. And if you are, by some chance, able to rid yourself of one another always springs up in its place.
The task doesn’t have to be dull, or unimportant. It can be vital and exciting initially. But anything done long enough turns dull, and sooner or later the Career Zombie will have its day.
I’ve been working for about 7 1/2 years now, and I’ve had three Career Zombies, two of which are still chasing me. I keep looking around my shoulder for the third, but I’m sure it’s just waiting for my next transfer.