Hi - great question and sorry to hear it isn't going smoothly to start!

Being unstaffed for periods of time is completely normal. I had a similar experience in my first year of consulting for 3 months, and also as a Manager when I moved to a new office for around 2 months.

It isn't a reflection on you, it is just the supply of consultants is higher right now than the amount of work. This will change over time so don't worry.

My advice is:
- Try to use the time to develop relevant skills (work on PPT, Excel, Python etc. skills)
- Try to keep your motivation levels up so you can be ready when something does come your way
- As hard as it is, enjoy the down time, because there will be many busy periods in the future

Her there - 

I would not worry too much. I was unstaffed for more than 4 weeks after my first case. I would say that try to be in touch with staffing. There are many factors that go into staffing you well. The pipeline, your experience, your pd needs, the case set up, etc etc. So this is very normal. 

In the meantime, reflect on your current review, discuss it with your mentor and think about the things you need to work on in your next case. That would help you improve your performance in your next case. 

Per Adi - there was a good discussion on the below link. I would check that too.  https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/unstaffed-13471

Hi there,

All is good - don't worry!

A couple of important points:

• Expectation for your 1st project is minimal and it's usually quite “bad” for most people
• It's completely normal to be on the beach and work on LOPs etc. for some weeks at a time

Nothing to worry about and you should rather enjoy the time and use it productively in other ways before the grind begins again :)

Best of luck!

Hello!

At the beginning of you career is very very common, so don´t worry!

I started with a 30+ class of analysts in september, and some weren´t stuffed until around Xmas that year! And it was fine!

Dedicate plenty of time to network and find your way, but don´t stress too much. 

Hope it helps!

Cheers, 

Clara

Hi there,

It depends on the company.

Are you with a company like BCG where staffing is responsible for you? Or are you in a company that has a self-staffing model?

If the former, you are perfectly fine (and 2-4 weeks is not abnormal at all). If the latter, you're actually still fine, but should start hustling before it gets to the 2-3 month mark.

It really depends on the office situation where often there are slow periods where new consultants find it more difficult to be staffed.  It’s crucial that you are working with the right team set up where you will get meaningful coaching from the team. 

The fact that you’re not assigned to a proposal is a little concerning.  If client work is quiet, partners will be writing more proposals and so it’s surprising that you’ve not been looped in.  I would make sure you are being proactive with finding development opportunities while unstaffed as well.  Is there a partner who you think you want to work with in the future? I would hope so where I would just drop them an email asking “how can I help you?”.

0 implications whatsoever. They need to staff you especially in the begining it is not a reflection of your performance or ability at this stage!

Hi, 

A similar question was asked a few days ago- https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/unstaffed-13471

Please have a look and there is plenty of great discussion in that thread.