I earn £50k and barely do any work - AIBU?

[lexjoey]

I competed my MSc in 2020, managed to get onto a very good grad scheme and landed a role where my current line manager and his "right hand" woman barely have time to share work with me. TBF I would not have accepted this scenario if it had not been for Covid, I was just grateful to have a job but honestly I do about 15 hours worth of work per week and just waste time for the rest. I will say I complete one ouptut which the team hates.

It makes me feel like a great big lump of useless space and I plan to move jobs in the near-ish future. I've witnessed my sister go from being a wet blanket to the ultimate professional which has only highlighted the fact I have reached a dead end with this corp/team.

I'm really not gloating, just curious if anyone has found themselves in this position. On the one hand, I am lucky but it's only a ST solution and I really DO want to develop and I'm just stagnating.

The 2 people above me are very possessive with their work and don't have the time to upskill me.

AIBU?

Quite a few years ago where I was working went through a "structural reorganisation". For a period of 4 months I literally had nothing to do. I was being paid about £44k to do nothing. It was absolute soul destroying. I hated every minute.
I now work for myself and have never worked harder in my life but I'm immeasurably happier.

"Don't work hard; work smart" - Dr House

(yeah, it's silly to quote a fictional character but the sentiment's correct. Hard work for its own sake isn't a virtue.)

I'm in this position too, similar salary. It's soul destroying. I am spending my unused time applying for other jobs and doing online courses (currently learning German and basic programming).

I agree, it saps your confidence and degrades your skills. Get out ASAP.

Can you do one of the hacks like with a ticking watch to make it look like you're active?

What skills do you feel you have and want to use in a job, @lexjoey? What sort of career do you think you’d be happy in? Is that data science, or something else? What would make you feel like you were doing something useful?

It sounds like you could switch track now and build up a career and confidence for the longer term.

I think it's sounds demoralising and depressing and you don't want your skills to stagnate. I've been there and having to pretend to be busy is soul destroying.

Get applying.

Did you just see £50k and decide that’s all that matters? Same with your weight example. So what if the person is not overweight?

No, at the end of my grad scheme each person would present their "landing role". My only focus was to turn up to this pres with somewhere to go as I would have been the only grad who had not secured a position

You have talent , skill, drive and enthusiasm that is being laid fallow.

They are terrible managers and not serving you, or the organisation you all work for, well.

Plus at an early stage in your career I don’t think wfh all the time is good. You miss all sorts of experience and development that takes place informally just by working alongside people with more and / or different experience.

2 years is a decent time to stay in a first job, dust off you’re CV, big up your role / experience so far and take your skills where they can bloom and go!

Good luck!

Definitely use the time to upskill. SQL, c++, python, Visual Basic, tableau or other visualisation packages. Stats analysis - R, spss. Increase your numeracy! And look for a new job.

I had a meeting recently where I had to share successes, challenges to a wide audience a was completely blank as I do so little. Made me feel horrendous!

I grew up poor but had no anxiety issues during that time!

Snap, I was in this situation almost exactly. I had a job, earned 45k and did barely anything but still got a lot of praise. Needless to say I was eventually made redundant and have moved to a much busier / challenging role. While I miss the ease of my previous role, I think my self esteem is benefited by being busy and challenged.

Enjoy it for now, get experience on your CV and then move on!

@CharlieAndTooManyCharacters
I've been researching career coaches as I truly have lost all sense of myself/what I want out of a career!

Most days I am stifling the desire to sob

I’d go mad if this was me. YANBU. I hope you’re able to find something else!

Your problem is that bad management is giving you imposter syndrome. Send an email expressly asking for more to do, then at the very least they can't say you didn't tell them.

I used to work in an office type setting where we had to be available for urgencies twice a day (urgent meaning we needed to do be free to do and finish the extra work within half a day) so most days we had about 3 hours to spare. Some colleagues used the time to do online courses, one was a part time journalist and wrote his articles and one moderated a website.

It's difficult as I know I have a good head on my shoulders, in previous group tasks I've always been THAT person to elevate the activity and get it over the line whilst being nice and friendly to others. Now I feel useless and my MH has nose-crashed.

i wasn’t directly that at you. I was commenting on the poster complaining you lack perspective and basically your diamond shoes are too tight.

They are wrong. Of course it can be utterly demoralising in your situation.

nose-dived*

I achieved a 1st from UCL, only mentioning as I hope this shows I am genuinely willing to work. I thoroughly hated my course but pushed through - perhaps that is a mentality which is ultimately unhelpful

It's sort of the same for me but I am at the opposite end of my career and I figure I am paid for my knowledge, experience and occasional flashes of brilliance rather than output
Unlike you though I dont really care, but that is probably because I am not looking for advancement or development. In your position I think I would find it stressful

What kinds of things do you enjoy doing (work wise)?

What makes you feel productive and useful?

What would you say your main skills are? What skills would you like to develop?

You are clearly capable and can find a role that suits you.

Is this civil service @lexjoey ?

I would spend your time doing courses - you can add these to your CV and your work should be pleased you're upskilling. You mentioned excel, so that could be somewhere to start.

And the one silver lining is that you have the time to start applying for other jobs.

Can you do one of the hacks like with a ticking watch to make it look like you're active?

I've bought a device from Amazon (a candle directioned the right way on the keyboard works equally as well) but in a weird way I feel like the least I can do is move the mouse every 5 mins. Almost like as if it's a form of punishment.

I was in this situation and it was miserable and really impacted my mental health. It sounds great in theory but the reality is very different.

I would use the time to be building on my skills and set up a little side hustle . Far more reward imo
oh and walk away from the desk if there’s no work, go for a walk or join the gym 😉

Is this civil service @lexjoey ?

Nope, one of the UK's largest tech firms.