In the American
business and corporate world, a career ender is an employee who is in the final stage of his
professional career, generally due to his age.
The term frequently has a negative connotation. The implication is that the employee is less interested in career growth than another employee, or that they may be less motivated or energetic. This term frequently is used when evaluating a potential new hire. In certain roles, an ideal fit will be an employee who will be willing to
go above-and-beyond, challenge conventions, and easily adapt to changing conditions. Additionally, in many professional fields, the cost of each hire is very high, and the expectation is that the employee will grow and be able to provide much more value over
time. A career ender, to contrast, might be reluctant to take on additional risk, and might instead be looking for a static, stable, "cushy" position until his eventual retirement.
In many situations, being a career ender isn't necessarily unacceptable, and many organizations have many career enders. Such an individual might be able to benefit the organization in many ways through his experience
alone.
Many
people view the label career ender as a form of age discrimination, which is usually
illegal in the
United States. Therefore, in most institutional and corporate environments, this term is more likely to be encountered behind closed doors, or at smaller firms (such as startups) more likely to engage in illegal discrimination.
The candidate has a
strong technical background, and
excellent communication skills, but I
feel that a career ender is not a good fit for this role.
