Since a month and a half, I started getting bored at my job (I'm a mid level SQL Developer): there's not tasks related to my job, and I don't see any projects coming (at least, my manager haven't told me any new/incoming project). I spent like 60% of a day learning (either reading, or coding) because there's nothing to do at all (and the rest of the day I'd answer any query). Also, I got the feeling that I'd not grow up as I expected because the lack of challenges (I see a challenge as an opportunity to learn no matter how hard is it).

What do you guys recommend me? Should I tell my manager about how I feel? Should I ask about if there's anything coming? Or should I start looking for a new job? By the way, I'm heading to my 8th month at this job.


You've worked there for 8 months so you should have an idea of the personalities and people involved in decisions and projects, and the way the company operates, but you have not been there long enough to be pigeon-holed into a single specific role. You are in an ideal place to be proactive in seeking new challenges.

Look for opportunities to improve the business and suggest them to people who are well placed to promote a new project - is there anything that would be better off as a database? Is there an old un-normalized database that needs some love? Are there business processes that could benefit from your expertise?

It sounds like you have been spending some time self improving, which is also great. But tie this learning into the direction you want to move within the company, and promote yourself and your new skills.

Moving jobs after eight months doesn't look great on a résumé, but nor is it a giant red flag for future employers. If your current company aren't able to provide you with the stimulation and career progress you need, then by all means get that résumé up to date and move on.


I would always start with asking for work. Whether or not it should be this way, my experience has shown that asking for work has much, much better results than just waiting for something to happen. Not only does it show you as proactive, it also demonstrates an interest in the company and puts you in the forefront of your boss' mind. In addition, you have the ability to potentially tailor the work you might receive based on how/what you ask ("Is there work that needs to be done using platform XYZ? If not, I'm open to any projects you may have available.").

I definitely would not tell your boss that you're bored. At least not in those words. You can mention that you're hoping to get your hands on some more challenging projects or that you want to know if there's anything in the works, but don't tell them you're bored.

Just a side-note, here. If you really feel like you've stagnated at this job and you've confirmed that there's just no new work coming down the line for you, I'd take a moment to reconsider quitting. While there are jobs out there (especially for DBAs and programmers) that result in you having a full workload every day, many software/office jobs I've experienced have a lot of downtime. When I initially started in the industry, I was also worried that I just wasn't doing anything. I took some classes, did some practice stuff. Eventually I reached out to some friends (including a manager at the company I worked at) and they all indicated the same thing: Sometimes there just isn't any work to do. That's a product of how we view working/a work-day and not indicative of your skills as a professional.

  • 1
    +1 There are periods of downtime and there are crunches. The latter is much worse than the former – Dave Gremlin Oct 9 '19 at 19:33
