Bored in my new job, finding it too easy

[boredemployee]

I started a new job 4 months ago. It's my first job in my field (I'm a recent graduate). It's a copywriter/marketing kind of role in a niche area.

I'm bored already. It's fast-paced and dynamic, but the work feels too easy. I find myself bored and under stimulated. I'm working on actual projects and getting good feedback, most of my work comes back with just minor comments and quite often no comments. I've had good feedback from the senior staff.

I have enough to keep me busy but just finding it's not engaging my brain the way I hoped it would.

I'm not really sure what to do or what exactly is missing. I enjoy what I do but I want it to step up, if that makes sense. Not really sure how to articulate the issue properly

Does anyone have any advice?

Stick with it and see where it goes. There's plenty of time. Jobs and cvs only make sense when looking backwards

Welcome to the world of work!

You need to stick with it and prove you can do the low level stuff well. Over time you will get to do more interesting stuff. Don't run before you can walk.

I'm sorry to say this but graduates are ten a penny these days. I see lots of jobs advertised that ask for graduates that would have only needed four O Levels or two A Levels when I left school.

I have nothing against graduates per se. I am one too but I went to university when dinosaurs roamed.

Do you have one 2 ones with your manager. Tell them you’d like to help with other things to expand your skillset

If your job has little stress and pays your bills then crack on. Many people don't have that luxury. Enjoy your time away from work.

Stick it out . Let’s face it, an entry level copywriting and marketing job is not going to be littered with opportunities for you to singlehandedly revamp the marketing strategy of Virgin or Amazon. They will be giving you the low hanging fruit that won’t damage the company if you get it wrong.

All you can do is review your situation in a couple of months, and discuss with your line manager. In the meantime, try to do your job better, it’s too easy you say, well maybe you need to try harder, think more creatively, and hopefully have better ideas.

Unfortunately, this is the case for many new graduates, who have always been in full time education and don't have any proven work experience.

The problem is that even if you are capable of doing more complicated work, you don't have the experience to back it up. You will also be competing against people who are equally capable, but with a few more years proven experience under belt.

Employers aren't just looking for technical skills, they are also looking for soft skills like communication, influencing, problem solving etc. At interview, you may be asked about a problem you have solved and you need to demonstrate more then just a theoretical understanding and give examples.

I think for now, you need to focus on earning your stripes and getting a bit more experience under your belt in your current job. I've worked with recent graduates who think that their entry level job is beneath them and so rather than trying to their job well and prove they can do more, they do less and don't perform very well. So, they don't progress in their current role because their performance isn't very good and can't get other jobs, because they haven't taken the opportunity to develop their skills in their current role.

Thank you! I will take your advice on board and I've actually found it really helpful, it's given me a new perspective. Also thank you for the reminder about the importance of soft skills, I definitely could do with improving on those, especially speaking/presenting

My manager emailed the head of my department today to let them know I've been doing really well which is nice!

If it's in a niche area how about doing some additional private work? Depending on your speciality it can be very well paid.