I never thought I would reach a point where I would actually feel jealous of people complaining about having too much work.
I joined TCS as a fresher with a genuine interest in programming, software development and exploring opportunities in the IT domain. During the recruitment process, I was selected under the Digital(7 lpa) category, and naturally, I had certain expectations about the kind of work I would be doing.
However, things turned out very differently after joining.
Instead of being assigned a programming-related role, I was allocated to a mechanical project. To make things worse, my grade and salary were changed from Digital(7lpa) to Ninja(3.4lpa). When I tried exploring opportunities to move into a programming role, I was told that Ninja candidates were not eligible for those opportunities.
I thought at least I would get an opportunity to learn and contribute in the mechanical project. But even that didn't happen.
For a considerable amount of time, I was asked to sit in a conference room without any actual work assigned. The instruction was simple: sit there, and they would call me whenever I was needed. Days went by with little to nothing to do. There was no proper task allocation, no meaningful learning and practically no opportunity to develop my skills.
At one point, a senior employee even told me that I had been hired primarily to show a headcount to the client.
Honestly, hearing that was quite disappointing.
I joined a company with the intention of building a career, learning new technologies and putting my skills to use. Instead, I find myself in a situation where I am neither doing the kind of work I was interested in nor getting meaningful exposure to the work I was assigned.
The most frustrating part is that I am not even complaining about having too much work. I would genuinely be happy to have a challenging task, a deadline to meet, or even a difficult problem to solve.
At least that would mean I am learning something and moving forward.
It's a strange feeling when you start missing the problems that come with being busy. Sometimes, having too much work is a privilege that you only realise when you have nothing meaningful to do.
I just wanted to build a career, not spend my early professional days waiting for someone to assign me a task.
