Hello all,It appears as though I will probably be on the bench for 3 to 4 weeks, while in between projects. I’ve been on the bench before and spent most of that time studying, reviewing material to help me on my next project, and pretty much relaxing at home. I do believe that relaxation while on the bench is a good thing; however, I do like to keep myself as busy as possible either working or doing something to help my career. My question is, is what do YOU do while on the bench? Study, read, attend training classes or seminars, travel, or just sit back and relax? If I had known a few weeks ago that I would be on the bench for 3 – 4 weeks then I would have scheduled to go to an SAP Training course somewhere in the US or something along those lings (I am an SAP Consultant). Does anyone have any suggestions or know of any good training courses or seminars in the US this month? Anyways, just curious so thought I would post to hear your views on what you do while on the bench as well.Regards,Michael

Alternatively get out and sell some business , work your network internally and externally, review the commercial requests etc.Yes use the opportunity to wind down a little, but selling services is what you're expected to do further up the food chain.

In my world, the senior management team effectively controls how they want the bench time spent. Here, if you were on the bench, you'd approach your resource manager and ask whether there was any non-chargeable work that needed to be done. The answer would almost certainly be "yes", and could range from bid support to methodology development to developing marketing collateral.While some 'coasting' is tolerated while people are on the bench, sitting around doing nothing is a fast track to P45sville around here.

Here, at one of the "Big Name" firms, the corporate policy is that all work (client-related, non-client-related, training, business development, etc.) must be scheduled by a resourcing manager for consultants below the senior consultant grades. However, my practice is particularly disorganised so there is a lot of benchtime. I have found that doing online training and reading are about the only productive things you can do. Either that or applying for other jobs.

Thanks for the responses. I have a list of "to-do's" which I will hopefully get marked off the list one by one over the next few weeks, and am planning to use most of the time selling business, talking and meeting with colleagues in town, and studying on matters that will help me out on the next project and further along in my career.I do have to say, working from home is quite nice for a change every now and then. :)Regards,Michael

Bench time ??What firm are you working for ??From what I hear, even weaker players like IBM are working at full tilt