Busy checking progress of the career-minded? (5,3)
I believe the answer is:
speed cop
'busy checking progress of' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'career-minded?' is the wordplay.
'career' becomes 'speed' (career can mean to run or rush around).
'minded?' becomes 'cop' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'speed'+'cop'='SPEED-COP'
'the' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for speed cop that I've seen before include "Police officer on a motorcycle? (slang)" , "Traffic enforcer" , "Policeman" .)