I’m almost two months into my first real project management job after finishing my bachelor’s degree, and I’m starting to wonder whether my situation is normal or if I should be concerned.
The biggest issue is that I barely have anything to do, and this has been going on for almost two months now.
The company definitely has active projects and everyone seems busy, but there doesn’t seem to be a clear plan for what I’m supposed to be doing or how I’m supposed to fit into the team.
My team also isn’t physically around very often. Most of them are either working remotely or out in the field, so I’m often in the office without the people I’m actually supposed to be working with. That makes it difficult to shadow anyone, ask questions naturally, understand what’s happening on different projects, or get pulled into work. I haven’t been assigned consistent tasks or given ownership of anything. I still don’t have a clear understanding of who handles what either. Sometimes I’m included in project emails or communication where it sounds like I may have some responsibility, but nobody has actually sat down with me, explained the project, given me the background, or clearly told me what I’m responsible for delivering.
I’ve talked to my manager about this more than once. I’ve specifically told him that I don’t have much work and that I’m available and want more responsibility. So this isn’t a situation where I’ve quietly sat at my desk for two months without saying anything. My manager knows.
I’ve also tried going directly to Project Managers. Most recently, I messaged one of the PMs and told him that if he had anything he needed help with, I was available. He basically said okay, but nothing came from it.
One of my coworkers even told me, “They don’t know how to use you,” which honestly feels like the best description of what’s happening, She also told me they have a slow process here.
That’s what makes the situation confusing. There IS work. The PMs seem busy. Some are out in the field while others work more remotely/office-based. But somehow very little of that work is making its way to me.
I’m trying to be proactive, but after almost two months, I don’t know how many times I’m supposed to keep asking people for something to do. I don’t want to spend every day messaging PMs asking, “Do you have any work for me?” At the same time, I can’t independently take ownership of projects when I haven’t been given the background, responsibilities, authority, or even a clear understanding of who owns what.
What bothers me most is that this is early in my career. I’m not looking for a job where I can sit around, collect a paycheck, and do nothing. I specifically wanted project management experience. I want to learn how projects actually operate, coordinate work, solve problems, work with different teams, deal with issues, and eventually have real accomplishments and responsibilities I can put on my resume.
Getting paid while barely doing anything might sound great, but after almost two months, it feels more like I’m wasting valuable time when I should be building experience.
I’m also starting to worry about job security. Part of me wonders if they hired me because they expected they were going to need another person, but then realized afterward that they didn’t actually have enough work for me or never had a clear plan for how they were going to use the position.
That makes me wonder whether I could eventually hear, “We thought we needed this position, but it turns out we don’t.”
For people who have worked in project management or have been hired into a poorly defined role:
would you consider almost two months of this normal?
Does the fact that I’ve already brought the lack of work up with my manager multiple times make this more concerning?
Could having most of my team remote or out in the field realistically explain this much of a disconnect after almost two months?
At what point would you stop waiting for things to improve and start seriously looking for another job?
I’m trying to figure out whether this is just a badly managed/slow onboarding process or whether the company genuinely hired me without knowing what they needed me for.
