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I'm on the bench.

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Mid-Level Software Engineer at Consulting Company2 months ago

I work for a consultancy company. The client I was assigned to recently changed to another service provider and all my team (7 contractors including 2 project managers) were put on the bench.

The staffing team is looking for another project where I might be a good fit and they say there's no deadline to assign me to another project, but I'm not sure of that and every day it feels like I will be fired in any moment.

My motivation went from 100% to literally zero. I don't know what to focus on now and I feel lost. It is an odd feeling.

What can I do now?

Things I've done so far:

  • Created a side project for helping people manage their finances using Django + PostgreSQL.
  • I've been practicing in leetcode and hackerrank. Now I'm reading Elements of programming interviews in python.
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Discussion

(2 comments)
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    Thoughtful Tarodactyl
    Taro Community
    2 months ago

    I would definitely start applying to other jobs just in case. Market is tough and better safe than sorry. Companies are on a tight budget and if someone is not actively generating revenue they seem to be laying off people without hesitation. Doesnt have to be a ton of time, but I can get about 100 applications in an hour using simplify job board and extension

  • 2
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    Tech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course Hero
    2 months ago

    If it's been a while since you've been put on hiatus mode (>1 month), I would definitely start looking. The (big) silver lining of a situation like this is that you have time, and time is only resource that truly matters at the end of the day. I recommend using this time to do interviews, build side projects, and just live a good life outside of work. Squeeze as much value from this slow period as you can.

    Check out this similar thread as well (the linked resources there should be very helpful): "Help needed: New grad job going at a slow pace with nothing to do - Next steps?"