Lack of workload - change of role

LinLui

With respect, you applied for a "step back" and got it. The grass isn't always greener and all that! I totally and utterly get "bored", but you wanted someone to design a job around you that wasn't the job you applied for. It didn't work out. Nobody is at fault. Move on and get another job. 

joloto69

LinLui said:

With respect, you applied for a "step back" and got it. The grass isn't always greener and all that! I totally and utterly get "bored", but you wanted someone to design a job around you that wasn't the job you applied for. It didn't work out. Nobody is at fault. Move on and get another job. 

Respectfully

Stepping back does not mean working for 5% of the day

It was the school that tailored the job to fit me which is clear from the post 

They haven't delivered their promise at interview - not sure whose fault that is but I can take a stab in the dark at it not being mine

Of course I'm going to look for other work where I will have to explain the brevity of the post

Thanks for your input though. 

DullGreyGuy

I can understand it being unpleasant having nothing to do, stressful wouldn't be my choice of words but no point arguing over semantics. 

Once did a "phase 2" of a project, phase 1 had been a proof of concept run by 1 manager, had been planned to take 6-9 months but took 18 months to complete. Phase 2 had a very hard time limit of 12 months due to legislative changes that were coming into effect and this had to be done before those, and with a benefit case of £500,000,000 they had money to throw at it so rather than having the 1 manager they decided to have 4 managers plus an assistant just in case. 

At the start days were very dull, we were instructed to be hands off and just manage the process so had about 4-5 hours of work a week on a 40 hour contract. The guy that was supposed to be working with me quit and thankfully they didnt replace them and after 3 months or so the hands off rules were softened and so could actually do some of the doing. The chap who was effectively my opposite number though remained fully hands off the whole time, no idea how he occupied his time and he even relied on the assistant to do a lot of the basic paperwork. 

Whilst I really disliked the engagement because even at its peak there was probably only 30 hrs a week it did look very good on the CV and set me on a path that has proven to be very lucrative since. 

Iamdebtfree

LinLui said:

With respect, you applied for a "step back" and got it. The grass isn't always greener and all that! I totally and utterly get "bored", but you wanted someone to design a job around you that wasn't the job you applied for. It didn't work out. Nobody is at fault. Move on and get another job. 

This is totally unhelpful, borderline insulting and uncalled for, imo. Well done..not.

OP, I absolutely get you. I've been there, in your exact situation. I'd been in a horrifically stressful all around soul-destroying corporate PA role and was prepared to take just about anything to leave. Took the first job that was offered. Long story very short, the job basically didn't exist. I won't go into detail, suffice it to say that I was originally employed to assist the company owner's *I have a servant and live in Mayfair* lazy a-e loser of a son who in around six months time after I was hired decided to stop pretending being part of the business. Naturally none of the family dynamics/ my potential boss's situation within the company were made clear to me at interview. I spent four years literally crying of boredom. I was in horrible debt then, it was 2008, everything was falling apart, it wasn't anywhere near as simple as *go get another job*. I truly feel for you. There is *not quite so busy and stressful* and there is *absolutely nothing to do all day*. The euphoria of not being in the hellhole I'd left lasted for a bit. I then realised I had to somehow fill 8 hours a day every day  sitting staring at a laptop with absolutely nothing to do - whilst having to somehow pretend to be doing something. It was just awful, demoralising, depressing. I get it.😒😒😒

I really hope you find something new very soon. .maybe a different position within the school?? 

LinLui

@Iamdebtfree The OP applied for a job which they were overqualified for, and did so knowing that. The interviewers shouldn't have said that they could provide work other than that is the original JD, but it still remains the fact that those tasks were not what they applied for, and it seems that work was never available. So she has the job that she applied for. If that is not suitable for any reason, including not having enough work to do, then she needs to find another job. I didn't say it was good to be bored - but complaining about it isn't getting any further forward. They have no work for her, so she lives with that (as you chose to for your own reasons) or she moves on. 

gm0

Podcasts on your phone and discreet ear buds are a wonderful innovation for this scenario. 

Not as provocative to others going about their daily work as someone openly revelling in something entirely unrelated.  Knitting.  Computer games.  Reading a novel.  Building a matchstick Westminster Abbey.

Definitely beats staring at your clean desk or already tidied email folder.  This happened to me before internet connections opened up. Clean desk. Nasty coffee.  Newspaper you brought with you.  Distract colleagues.  Help someone for 20 min.  Long lunch. 

Adding structure to the day/week helped (a bit) to reduce the boredom.

It's ironic that sometimes the people this happens to are the people who hate it rather than other people who would love to be asked for as little as possible bar turning up in return for pay.

But occasionally jobs like this exist around an event or a seasonal peak.

There was an (in)famous example at one of the banks.  One of the last mainframe assembler programmers kept just in case of something going wrong because of unrelated upgrades to other things - and they needed someone with that old coding skill - right now - today.  Or the world is on fire.  For the employer - risk/reward made it a no brainer to keep them.   Infrequently called upon to do anything.  And a lot of knitting and cups of tea.  Nice early retirement gig. Or insane levels of boredom.

The (perceived) problem is in your own head.  Once you have acted professionally and talked to management and made an effort to help out.  It's difficult I know.  My situation did not last long thankfully.