I'm an entry-level billable employee at a consulting firm. Things are slow for me right now. I'm looking for advice on how to best use my free time and to stay on track when I'm not that busy. I work as a lower-level billable employee for a consulting firm. At my level, I typically am staffed on 6-8 clients, although only 3-4 will be active in a given week. This results in an ebb/flow of my workload.
I'm expected to bill 85%+ of my time. However, we're currently experiencing a slow period, and I'm currently light on workload, which means I'm now struggling to get to my minimum expected billable hours.
Former young consultants: What advice do you have? I have sought additional work from my boss, coworkers and our marketing department, but sometimes they simply say they don't need the help. (Marketing/admin work isn't billable either-- but I recognize that it is helpful for the company). It's accurate to say that business is slow right now, and I genuinely believe my coworkers and superiors would give me more work if it were available. My performance reviews have all been very positive and I receive good feedback from clients, but I hate feeling "not busy" at work. It makes me anxious for my job.
Furthermore, having less work to finish somehow makes me more likely to procrastinate on the smaller tasks I do need to complete. I find myself distracted, and will realize that I've spent too much time on what should be a small task. I worry that this carries over into the hours that I bill the client, and that I am more efficient when I am busier.
Things will pick up later on, and at this point I am as confident as anyone else in this economy that my job is stable (I work with more stable, long-term clients than many of my coworkers). In the meantime:
1) As the low-man on every project team, how can I scrounge up additional billable work?
2) How can I stay focused when I have less work to do?
I'm expected to bill 85%+ of my time. However, we're currently experiencing a slow period, and I'm currently light on workload, which means I'm now struggling to get to my minimum expected billable hours.
Former young consultants: What advice do you have? I have sought additional work from my boss, coworkers and our marketing department, but sometimes they simply say they don't need the help. (Marketing/admin work isn't billable either-- but I recognize that it is helpful for the company). It's accurate to say that business is slow right now, and I genuinely believe my coworkers and superiors would give me more work if it were available. My performance reviews have all been very positive and I receive good feedback from clients, but I hate feeling "not busy" at work. It makes me anxious for my job.
Furthermore, having less work to finish somehow makes me more likely to procrastinate on the smaller tasks I do need to complete. I find myself distracted, and will realize that I've spent too much time on what should be a small task. I worry that this carries over into the hours that I bill the client, and that I am more efficient when I am busier.
Things will pick up later on, and at this point I am as confident as anyone else in this economy that my job is stable (I work with more stable, long-term clients than many of my coworkers). In the meantime:
1) As the low-man on every project team, how can I scrounge up additional billable work?
2) How can I stay focused when I have less work to do?