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I'm a developer and I've been employed as a consultant (for the first time) for roughly two months now, and in that time I've only gotten one assignment. A quite basic inhouse assignment that clocks below 20 hours a week. I'm starting to grow pretty bored not only of the assignment but bored in general without having a proper assignment to occupy 100% of my time. In the beginning I used the time I had left to study and learn new things, but it's not fun learning new things when not knowing when (and if) I'm going to be able to use my knowledge.

Good to know 1: They recently fired a guy because they couldn't find any suitable assignments.

Good to know 2: I don't know how easy it would be for me to find another job as I looked for a while before getting this job. Other companies turned me down because of "lack of experience". I've been working for three years now.

Good to know 3: My boss has sent my CV to various companies but as far as I know, they've all declined.

How could I talk to my boss about this? I don't want to risk being fired too, but at the same time I feel like I could just stay at home and do something fun instead of sitting at the office feeling bored.

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    Have you asked your boss for tips on what to study to become easier to assign?
    – Patricia Shanahan
    Oct 26 '18 at 16:49
  • Are you paid hourly by your boss, regardless of how many hours he can bill for your services? Or are you only paid for the hours he directly bills for your labor? If the first case (or maybe even for the second as well), why don't you ask if any other consultants could use your help? Or if there is any "in-house" software you could work on to improve his business.
    – dan.m was user2321368
    Oct 30 '18 at 13:59
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Just tell your boss you would like more work.

If your current assignment is only taking up about 50% of your time, then just ask your boss if there is additional work you could be doing. Don't ask to change assignments, just ask for more. If you are doing this task perfectly (not cutting corners or skipping steps to finish it quicker) and you still have a lot of time left, by all means bring that up.

No one will fire you for asking to do more than what was assigned to you. Just don't use this as an excuse to dump your current assignment. Don't ask for a change, ask for more.

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