I know it evokes feelings of a paid vacation for a IT professional. For the non-IT folks, on bench is a term we use to denote a period when a resource is not generating revenue and is waiting for his/her next project.
Usually on bench is a time people dream of. In TCS since there is computer allocated to a project and never to a employee , so we never have a PC , or a cubicle to sit when on bench. So all you do is drop your phone number to RMG(Resource Management Group) and stay at home.
I have had the pleasure of bench more than once. When I was on bench in offshore(noida) for the first 15 days I was really thrilled as I finished up all my pending tasks. No more scheduling office work so that I could leave early and finish just 1 of the so many tasks. Now in just 2-3 days everything was done. No issues with having to travel to other part of delhi for a trivial issue.
But it soon becomes boring and irritating as all you do is watch everyone rush to work every morning. Then you realise that you are the only one on bench, all your friends are still working !!! So I thought that I should pick some certifications, attend "six thinking hats" training. But soon that also turned to be really boring, I cant just be reading the whole day.I then started spending time in office playing TT and burning calories in gym, but that still did not help.
It was then that I realized how important office gossip is to my health.I wanted to know who had a fight with his onsite counterpart, who has a crush on whom, who are the new freshers in project, who fought with his Project manager and so on and on. Ya my phone bill went through the roof during those bench months
These days I am again on bench, this time at onsite, ya I know people go WoW!!, but it is not that great.First because I dont get months to stay on bench, if I dont get a project soon I might be bundled to Delhi. Second I dont have a office to go and play TT or kill time in gym. Besides that I have to spend time anticipating client interview and then the day ends with no phone call.
I had recommended to lot of people to pickup some new to learn, but it is actually not that easy, because you are constantly worried about your future project/allocation. Hope my uncertanity ends soon or I will go nuts !!
14 comments:
Hey Mukul!
Whats the latest stats..Are yu still enjoying ur onsite bench..)
Nice post Mukul, very well written..the pics look amazing too..!
I cld see euros falling down as shown in ur widget!
Thanks pooja,
I will be moving to charlotte,north carolina on 23rd.Moving to a pharma company.TCS has got a new account, so I will be joining that,should be a great learning oppurtunity.
Ya I am learning from you,pictures do make a difference.
Hey do you know any way of widening my post.The text part of my post is too thin. I just dont seem to get it. I think the only option is to migrate it to wordpress or something else.
hey Mukul, this is news!
North Carolina, i have heard its is a great educational place!
Pharma companies must be making lot of money in a place like US!!
Widening the posts may surely be a good idea, i have never tried wordpress Mukul!
lets give it a try and please share your xperiences!
So no more on bench it seems!!
Actually my project allocation is confirmed, but joining date is not. It keeps getting delayed every week. So dont know when I will move to charlotte.
Pharma companies are definatly making good money.They spend so much on advertising a single pill !!
Must be, lets see how pharma companies are affected in this new global crisis..!
Whats the latest in North Carolina!!
hi pooja...sorry for the late response...actually my new client is very very strict about non official internet use...and I had no net at home for a while...so was just cut off...still settling in charlotte...this place feels like a village after San Diego....
And to answer your question these guys are actually doing pretty well...not at all impacted by slowdown...but I guess they are planning for future by outsourcing. Heard things are a bit on a downhill at aricient ?
Oh Charlotte seems to be less popular than SD!
Aricent seems to be not so affected with the economic crisis, at least this is what we are constantly updated abt!
The company CEO has been recently changed and he promises a very bright future, all fingers crossed!!
To be very honest, the financial view of life takes my least attention!
I wish i knew more!
Hmm...I could make that out...I see a lot of spiritual blogs on your site....well that is actually good..atleast you are not in rat race...Oh and sorry again for late response...I have been really busy with all kinds of stuff.
How small the world is on the net and how close we feel but how far we are in real life. Incidents change relationships but the familial network never breaks like a neural network wired for eternity to explore the universe.
No new posts Mukul!!
true !! :-)
Abey koi naya blog likh.. vaise i was not knowing this that you are very good at writing. Nice... keep it up
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