Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'm sure I have posted about this before but it seems I can never get away from this problem.
I always have way too much downtime at my job and what is frustrating is that this happens at nearly EVERY post-college job I have had. I graduated college in 2001 and since that time have had 7 full-time jobs, out of that 5 have left me with weeks to months where I have less than an HOURS worth of work to do. Most of those jobs were in marketing (coordinator, manager, etc.) so I began to think it was a marketing thing but my current position is a non-marketing role; more of a project management role where I manage communications workflow and while it started out pretty busy (which was great) things slowed down back in Oct and now its down to nothing. I literally have about 20 - 40 mins of work a day. Every.single.day since Dec.
I've written my managers and directors asking if I could help out in other depts or in other areas but what ends up happening is they throw some small tasks here in there that may add another 20 mins on to my day. Nothing substantial. I'd pursue other opportunities but at nearly 6 months preggers, I can't really change jobs right now.
I just don't understand why this happens with every job! At interviews, I ask specifics about workload and tasks and they always make it out like I will be soooo busy, then I get in and I feel like they don't even need me! Its also frustrating because I feel like its hindered my career growth. Without challenges, responsibilities and stimulation, how do I grow?
Has anyone else been through this? I've never really had a busy, challenging or stimulating job.
Take on-line classes and get some new certifications.. I'm working on my PMP by taking course modules in my free time. I also make up my own projects to work on. Your larger comopany may have things you can volunteer to get involved with or lead , like charity activities. I've also taken on cross-organizational coordination roles within our larger business unit outside of my organization.
Nobody's going to hand you a syllabus for your career so you need to manage your own personal growth. You have a luxury a lot of people don't and you should be making the most of it.
I'm sure I have posted about this before but it seems I can never get away from this problem.
I always have way too much downtime at my job and what is frustrating is that this happens at nearly EVERY post-college job I have had. I graduated college in 2001 and since that time have had 7 full-time jobs, out of that 5 have left me with weeks to months where I have less than an HOURS worth of work to do. Most of those jobs were in marketing (coordinator, manager, etc.) so I began to think it was a marketing thing but my current position is a non-marketing role; more of a project management role where I manage communications workflow and while it started out pretty busy (which was great) things slowed down back in Oct and now its down to nothing. I literally have about 20 - 40 mins of work a day. Every.single.day since Dec.
I've written my managers and directors asking if I could help out in other depts or in other areas but what ends up happening is they throw some small tasks here in there that may add another 20 mins on to my day. Nothing substantial. I'd pursue other opportunities but at nearly 6 months preggers, I can't really change jobs right now.
I just don't understand why this happens with every job! At interviews, I ask specifics about workload and tasks and they always make it out like I will be soooo busy, then I get in and I feel like they don't even need me! Its also frustrating because I feel like its hindered my career growth. Without challenges, responsibilities and stimulation, how do I grow?
Has anyone else been through this? I've never really had a busy, challenging or stimulating job.
My current job which is by far the most lucrative job I have ever had, has a lot of downtime built into the job.
Basically if things in the refinery and on my units are running well, there is usually very little work to do on a given shift, but when things go wrong, then the job can be potentially deadly and very tiring, but usually on a typical shift there is little to do.
Like they say about airline pilots: Years of pure boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror. Or as my wife says about the time needed to complete some tasks: 2 minutes of effort and 20 years of experience.
I find Winter just slows down everything, unless you're lucky enough to live in a year round warm state. I think people are just not encouraged enough to buy things while it's cold or they stock up or get everything completed before the cold comes.
Take on-line classes and get some new certifications.. I'm working on my PMP by taking course modules in my free time. I also make up my own projects to work on. Your larger comopany may have things you can volunteer to get involved with or lead , like charity activities. I've also taken on cross-organizational coordination roles within our larger business unit outside of my organization.
Nobody's going to hand you a syllabus for your career so you need to manage your own personal growth. You have a luxury a lot of people don't and you should be making the most of it.
Thanks for the advice.
I had thought about going for the PMP for awhile but I don't like that it has to be renewed every 3 years and I'm not sure I am that committed to the idea.
But I do know I could use more career direction. Just seems like everything I have focused on before has not worked out.
Even still, it would be nice to have steady work to do, no matter where I am.
I probably have no more than 5 hours of honest-to-goodness work in a week. The rest of the time is simply being present. I've tried to actively find more work to do and to learn skills in different areas, but that just ended up irritating my boss and other directors.
The mentality I have now is that my job is secure and I have almost no stress and I get paid decently to have so little to worry about. It's a pretty good "problem" to have compared to most people.
My last job, and mostly likely my upcoming job, will be similar. I was/I am a supervisor. The only real work is when someone screws up, or I have new hires, or there are procedural changes. As long as everyone just what they are supposed to do, my reporting, documentation and the like take only about an hour a day.
What I have done is create projects for myself. Once you know your function well enough to identify inefficiencies, fix them (but not before documenting and creating the need with your superiors, so that you'll get points for doing so.)
In your case, I think I would bide my time until I was back from maternity leave. You are right not to rock the boat and endanger your FMLA or any paid leave you might have coming!
The truth of the matter is in many job corporate or otherwise people tend not to be very busy. In my experience people spend more time looking busy and announcing to everyone about how busy they are than actually being busy. Most jobs once mastered aren't that hard. Unless one is on a manufacturing line, working in telemarketing, working in retail or at a restaurant or any processing job where there is a constant flow of new tasks they aren't that busy. Many people get paid for doing little but keep quiet because they don't want to eliminate their job. Others dont give you work b/c they dont have much to give either
Youre probably asking the right questions in interviews but the workload is probably exaggerated by the interviewers as everyone likes to tell how important the role is to attract the best talent. plus difficult, importance, stress level are all so relative - they may find the role to be those things but you wont
The key is to spread out your tasks. Target process improvement projects. Join committees. Do process documentation (training modules for your succcessor), Volunteer for tasks that have gone undone for years, Make a list of whats broken and try to fix it
Just know what youre experiencing is the unspoken norm....
Good luck
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
