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A few months ago I got an exciting new job as a Software/Hardware Tester at a nice big company, with lots of opportunities.

After I finished my integration here, there were no new tasks for me. I am supposed to replace a colleague who will switch to another project. Even he has few tasks on the current project, because he's waiting for others to finish work, so he can continue testing.

I asked others colleagues for work, including my team leader, but they all gave me little things to do, nothing serious. So everyone is aware that I have had little to no work for the past month. I've been told to wait for new tasks but given nothing to do in the meantime.

I really feel bad for not doing touch. I studied everything I had to learn, multiple times. I am trying to learn new stuff and watch some tutorials on programming and work on a few online courses, but none are related to my testing position.

This job is important to me, as it is hard job to get, mainly because I have no real experience in this field.

-How can I find more tasks?

-How should I approach this and not give the impression I am wasting time ?

-Are there any other ways I can keep busy?

Old_Lamplighter
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Johan
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2 Answers2

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What should I do next?

Ask your manager for something to do. (or whomever assigns you tasks) Show a bit off initiative and just be honest. "Hey PERSON XXX, I need some more work to do, what do you have for me?"

How should I approach this and not give the impression I am wasting time ?

You should approach this by not wasting time and asking the appropriate person for something to do.

Neo
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    So much this. IF the answer is there's not really anything to do then propose something, i.e. "Shall I look into technology X then?" – Cronax Jun 20 '18 at 11:53
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You told your supervisors that you have nothing to do at the moment. You asked your supervisors for work, they either didn't have any or they gave you tasks you finished realtively quickly.

I don't really see any problem here. You did your part, and that is do your job and report your status. The fact that at the moment there is nothing to do does not mean there will be nothing to do, or that they will fire you if you do nothing.

Things like this happen, and its common. Some work can not be done in parallel. You can't test something if it's not ready yet. As soon it is finished, you can test, and meanwhile they will do something else that you will need to test after that.

Do you have any kind of meetings? Dailies? Just tell in each meeting you have nothing to do, and if someone has something to give you, you will be happy to take the task. After that, its their turn to act upon it, and you can take your time while they find you something to do.

Chapz
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