u/hb_dive_42

I joined a new firm a little over 3 months ago after being overworked and underpaid at my previous job. During the interviews, the project managers wanted me to join a big project the company had been working on for a few years which involved a lot of remediation work, and some other smaller projects where I had a lot of background experience in.

My first month I barely received any work to do. The PMs did not actually contact the client about gaining permission for me to join until the third week, so I spent a lot of my time just watching training videos and sitting on my hands. Eventually I was able to be onboarded, however it the three months I’ve been around I have only done one single day in the field and that’s it, literally nothing else. I learned that apparently during the time between my interviews and me joining the firm, the PMs decided to train another employee to fill in the manpower gaps, so essentially they don’t even need me on this big project anymore.

I’ve been placed on a different project since then but it’s hardly related to my expertise and the vast majority of the work involves filling out checklists and photo logs. I know it’s very early but I feel like I’ve been wasting my time working here, and definitely feel mislead about what type of work I would be doing too. I’ve never felt the need to jump ship this early at a job but my gut is telling me that I won’t be utilized properly here. What should I do?

I started a new role a little over a month ago and have barely been given any work since then, only maybe 15 hours in total. I ask my manager and other PMs if they need help on any tasks but there doesn’t seem to be anything I can help out on. I know they are trying to get me added to some large projects but i don’t have a timeline of when that would happen. I have various training videos and modules I can go through but they aren’t pressing, and I would rather be doing something productive anyways. Is this how it’s gonna be for the time being before I get added to projects? Any tips on what I can do to make my time more productive?

Hello, I currently work for a consulting firm specializing in Phase I/II ESAs and a smattering of other smaller related projects. I have a job offer from a much larger firm that I would love to accept, but I had some questions related to the whole billable hours aspect.

At my current job, we don’t track hours at all. We are simply paid a salary assuming we worked 40 hours a week. We are assigned projects according to our schedule, and once we finish one we move onto the next, get assigned more work once that is done, etc. However I learned that this is relatively different than a typical consulting firm. I have read that you usually need to track your specific hours spent on a project, and that work may not be assigned so easily, you might need to network and talk with different managers to get work on your plate. I also understand you are expected to hit a certain percentage for the amount of time you spend on projects.

It just seems a little odd to me that a company would hire you but you would have to do leg work yourself to work on projects instead of simply getting assigned stuff. Are there any tips and tricks into navigating stuff like this? I would want to obviously hit my metrics and stay busy and learn new things but I am having a hard time wrapping my head around this kind of workflow.

I basically only need free weights and some machines. I’m trying to avoid the LA Fitness locations as well. I see there are a lot of clubs but they appear to be really pricey and I don’t think I need everything that would come with the membership anyways.