New joiner with specialised skills relevant to one team in the overall groupBenched for a few weeks now & does not appear to be loads in the pipeline in the area I'd like to work in.Been offerred a six week stint doing something else. Way out of my comfort zone and am not especially interested in that area anyway.But very bored on the bench and am keen to get stuck into something.Has anyone out there been in a similar situation? Would welcome your opinions on whether I should take on the other project to tide myself over or hold out for something that I actually want to do on the bench.

Take the six week project to show willingness and flexibility, but be very clear with the project lead that this is temporary and outside of your comfort zone/experience/what you were hired for. Keep networking, make sure the lead consultants are aware that you're on the hunt for work in this area, and keep looking out for more appropriate work throughout.From experience (not my own, but that of people I worked with) the danger of going onto projects outside your comfort zone to start with is that you obviously aren't going to be able to perform at the level you were originally hired for. As a result, being over enthusiastic to get off the bench can end up harming your reputation so that, by the time projects come along that you are well-suited to, you find it difficult to get staffed to them.