Slow-paced Phase II with No Direction

[aspen]

I am over six months into Phase II, but I do not have any work to do and frankly feel I do not have a place at my SF. I have actively sought out areas of research I can pursue to discern a path forward despite my supervisors not having an actual job description for me or being able to tell me or others what I am supposed to be doing here.

I had multiple internships with my SF before graduation and had only a highly positive experience with plenty of mentorship, guidance, and projects to work on. Unfortunately, my job now is a stark contrast, with very little work to do, and not for lack of trying. My work also is not related at all to what my internships were or what my research was on—I am starting completely from scratch. Despite asking, begging even, for work from my supervisors and coworkers, all potential tasks are either menial, lead to a dead end, etc. I have had the chance to travel some, but that is about it. I will set up meetings, network, and have conversations, yet everything leads nowhere. I can generally get all of my tasks done in one day; the rest of the week is largely empty, other than meetings that do not produce much of anything.

I realize most jobs have an adjustment period for new hires, but is this 6-month stalemate the norm? I am used to a fast-paced environment and eagerly want to contribute where I can, so the slow-paced atmosphere is taking its toll on me. I am not used to this, and I never thought having too little to do would be this stressful!

I try to fill my time as much as possible by reading, coding, or helping with menial tasks, but there is only so much I can do. Does anyone have advice or a similar experience?

[fang2]

I had a similar experience for my first few months. I had a "mentor" engineer who I was supposed to be working with, but he rarely gave me anything despite complaining that he had too much work (there were lots of other issues going on with him). The work also wasn't in my field, but I spent the extra time learning about the field they placed me in. I did eventually get switched to another team that was a bit closer to my field, but it took going above my team and a recommendation from one of the other people I worked with who saw what was going on. Does your SF have a SMART coordinator or someone who handles all of the SMART/developmental program hires? They might be able to help. Also, I'm not sure how big your SF is, but look for any internal position listings. SMART does tie you to your SF, but they don't care if you stay in the same job there. Worst case, if they're really stubborn about keeping you in that job and you have a long service commitment, you could look for a new job outside your SF and see what your repayment situation would be.