What do yo do when HR is pushing you to take a project that derails your carreer track?? I've tried reasoning... doesnt work. And it doesnt seem I have much choice in the matter. Anyone have experience with this?

I am quite frankly sick of lazy, whining, work shy consultants. Derails your career track!!! What a load of garbage. If its needed for your company thats what you do. Beats sitting on the benchWork hard get yourself well known and respected then you get to choose.

In the short term I think it is reasonable to turn it down providing there is some chance of securing more suitable work. Best to say it is outside your skill base.Eventually you just have to go for it. However that can be where the fun starts. I have just taken a project that is not only off my career path but where I have no experience in the sector or function. Really I have been oversold and do not have the experience.I should say this is stressfull to say the least. I wish I was back on the bench.

or you could say you are learning new skills that will develop you as a consultantOften the most challenging situations, where we dont want to be are the ones that develop us the mostSometimes HR know what is good for the development of individuals and the organisation as a whole

Realist - take a deep breadth and keep some perspective. We need more information. If the chap in question is relatively junior your rationale makes sense. However, if you are an established professional you need to be more careful with your projects. I suspect because the economy is not exactly a bull market there are not many good projects around. Nevertheless, usually it's best to stick at least with your aligned industry sector!!

Work shy couldn't be farther from the truth... I've worked extremely hard to specialize in my field/industry and get on a certain path. Deviating from it, in my view, would make all my work a waste. In fact, one reason I dont want this project is because it's not challenging enough. Maybe you are just projecting? You assume others are lazy and stupid because you are. Obviously you have no career strategy of your own if you just take on any project without thought. This project is not even within my industry sector!!!

Out to get you?Jees - don't take it personally! There's a role which needs to be filled. Their job is to fill it. You're ostensibly doing nothing for the benefit of the firm while you're on the bench. They see you as a suitable resource.You have billing targets for a reason - you can't just sit and wait for something better to come along at some unspecified point in the future.

ok anono. lets discuss this. Firstly if you believe HR are "out to get you" then you haven't people up a very good network within the customer.How have you tried to resaon with them? lets role play an example. "ok Anon. you are sat on the bench at the moment and the industry you are focussed on isnt that buoyant currently. We really value you as part of the company and would like to use you on other things. We have another role coming up which we would like you to take for a while. Its a little out of your comfort zone but we believe the transferable skills you have would be beneficial to this project"How did you reason a rsponse to this?

Right, I see HR has infiltrated a consultant's forum. First you don't know the situation, so I dont see why you are getting so worked up about this, but essentially I would reason that an administrative position in which I'm basically assistant to the assitant of an assistant does nothing to further my career, even if 'for a short while' (which inevitably always turns out to be a longer while...) I would reason that the job of a qualified HR person is to match skills to openings despite the fact that this might give workshy Hr reps some more work to do..

I don't think HR have infiltrated. This is normal for a consultancy.Obviously people don't know the full story - you haven't posted it!"I would reason that the job of a qualified HR person is to match skills to openings despite the fact that this might give workshy Hr reps some more work to do.."Absolutely correct assuming suitable openings for your skills arise! In the real world, where specialist skills are not always in demand, HR's job is to ensure that as many people as possible are making money for the employer.

Firstly anon I am not a member of HR. I am a consultant at manager levelThink about this. What's the most important resource a consultancy has? the people. therefore its important that all resourcesdevelop and grow and are used at the correct level to get best billability. So do you think they are giving you some admin role to keep you down and prevent development. Isn't that counter productive based on both criteria above to the needs of the consultancy as a whole?

It's a simple question of objectives and incentives:HR's incentives are to minimise the number of people on the bench. Pure and simple. They don't care about your development, indeed in the ones I've met I'm pretty sure they have no idea what I do...Consultant's objectives: hit util targets, personal development, career progression... Therefore for me personally I'd rather take some time on bench and wait for the right opp.

I agree Bench. In all my meetings with HR they have had no clue about my background/experiences and refuse to even take a peak at my CV.. they put no effort into matching skills with roles. Which, to address realist's point, is counter productive to the firm as a whole... I think HR need a serious revamp in the way they function. They are supposed to work alongside consultants not opposed to them... Just an opinion

what's HR doing ordering you around? why isn't your manager doing that?

perhaps being on the bench means you dont have a manager

it is hard to judge fully without knowing more about the original poster. Ultimately, the UK economy is not shaping up well this year and consultancies will be hit. I would advise anyone in a decent company to hang in there, keep HR on side and try not to upset anyone. In the case of the poster here, you can either lump it and do as you are told or find a company which is looking for an inflexible consultant and is prepared to put a consultant's needs before those of the company. Every consultant has to do projects which are not in the career path". The best bet is to take it on, make your reservations clear and ask HR to prioritise you for future projects in your preferred field. You have to take one for the team sometimes, I am afraid. If you were a real expert in your field, I am sure that the clients would be requesting you, you would be unearthing the opportunities yourself or that you would be invited to take part in the tendering process.