Dear Career Advisor:

Five years ago, after completing college, I landed my dream job and was on top of the world. My position was the envy of my batchmates. I thoroughly enjoyed my job for a few years until a little less than two years ago things began to change. My company went through a restructuring exercise which saw me being saddled with many more functions and greater responsibilities, all with no increase in salary. In addition to having a new supervisor, a number of individuals were transferred to my department. I know that many of them don’t like me. One day I overheard one of them, in reference to me, say ‘Chip on shoulder’.

I am frustrated. I can never get through my workload, I feel overwhelmed. I am constantly tired. I have already exhausted my sick leave entitlements for the year. No one at work seems to understand what I am experiencing. When I speak to my mother about it she tells me I must just hold on. I have no one to talk to. What can I do? Can you help me please?

Novelette S

Dear Novelette:

You have provided a clear synopsis of what you are experiencing. In the interest of space, a few lines were removed, I hope you won’t mind.

It appears that you are facing a challenge which, from time to time, affects a number of people. There may be more than one issue at play here, either job overload or job burnout, or a combination of both. As a first step, I would suggest that you have a talk with your human resource manager to request a job analysis which will determine if, in fact, you are being assigned more tasks than is reasonable.

On the other hand, based on the cues gleaned from your letter it may be that you are experiencing job burnout. Your human resource department may be equipped with tools to allow them to determine if this is the case. If this is not available, you could consider taking one of the free online Burnout self tests. Most will provide with a basic interpretation of your scores along with useful suggestions as to coping strategies.

Job burnout, if not addressed, can be detrimental to your health and your career as it may stifle your chances for upward career mobility and may lead to loss of job and difficulty re-entering the job market. Among the more common signs of job burnout are:

* Loss of interest in the job;

* Work overload, feelings of being drained and overwhelmed;

* Toxic work environment;

* Mediocre or poor performance;

* Negative feelings towards job;

* Easily irritated by co-workers and at times becoming an irritant to co-workers;

* Feelings of being misunderstood and unappreciated and, conversely, often misunderstand the motives of others.

See the continuation of this response detailing steps you should take to stem the tide of burnout in next week’s issue

Carolyn Marie Smith is Director of Career & Employment Services at Northern Caribbean University. Submit your questions to her at careeradvisor@ncu.edu.jm