I am on the grad prog of a major non MBBB consulting firm and have been on the bench for 6 months now. Is my job safe??

How many elephants can a kangaroo rumble?

Sorry mate but there's a pretty good chance that you're toast.EC

Guess.

I doubt whether anybody would make grads redundant as they do not cost much!

well it ain't gonna help is it.

"I doubt whether anybody would make grads redundant as they do not cost much! "You're kidding right!One grad on 30K costs a company about 40K with benefits and NI contributions. 15 of them equal 600K. Assuming 60% margin project, then that cost reduction is the equivalent of winning a new deal worth £1M.So, Mr "Finally Just Made Partner" do you.....convince an IT director of a hard-pressed bank to let a team of four consultant transform his PMO function over a period of seven monthsOR ....get rid of that bunch of kids you see hanging around the coffee machine every day, no one ever cut you any slack when you were their age, its a dog-eat-dog world, etc.Sorry "an" - don't mean to scare you. You should keep plugging away and you may well make it through, but please, please don't think that being "cheap" ever saved anyone! Good luck.

Besides which, for managers who need to be seen to be cutting costs, what looks better? Getting rid of one (expensive) person, or getting rid of 10 (cheap) people? MBBB are businesses like any other, with the same vagaries about how people get made redundant.

'grad prog of a major non MBBB consulting firm'Not MBBB.

Jesus, you can be on the bench for 6 months? Is this common? I came through a grad scheme and have only managed to get the odd day here and there on the bench in 2 years

Its often one way or the other. Those who get off the bench quickly prove themselves not to be complete idots who wet their pants on client site. In the fickle world of choosing a grad to do the dogsbody work on a new project, this puts them at an advantage over those still on the bench, so they get picked again.Two projects without wetting yourself, shagging the client or swearing in a board presentation makes you a safe pair of hands by grad standards!My advice to new grads would always be - do not be picky about project options, just get off the bench - it gets the ball rolling. If you are stuck on it, try volunteering your services to the level of consultants just above you. Ask them if you can help with their research, de-bug spreadsheets, improve powerpoint presentations, proof read word docs. If they start to regard you as "reliable" it gets over the major problem all grads have - you may have a first from Oxbridge but you are an unknown quantity when it comes to practical work.Only volunteer to help those on billable projects! Internal projects and "beach bingo" projects do not count - they are often designed to "keep people busy", so by definition are mainly undertaken by people with even less credibility than new grads.

Was being light-hearted above, didn't mean to suggest all grads are wasters (was one myself, blah blah, blah).Lots of people stop becoming "grads" within months cos they prove themselves early. Some are still "grads" three or even five years in!

I admit that I was a total waste of space to my employer for the first five years of employment after university (Oxford as it happens!). Mercifully things have moved on a lot since then in my 20 years at work, although some of the rubbish I have been asked to do at various times since has left me wondering about the value-add. Still, it keeps me and the family fed, sheltered and with enough to spare to indulge interests!