I completed my MBA in 2022 from an ivy league and started my first job (ever) as a product manager(non tech) at a telecommunications and media company.

I completed my MBA in 2022 from an ivy league and started my first job (ever) as a product manager(non tech) at a telecommunications and media company. However I am not being given enough work. I feel I am not learning enough. I talked to my manager about it but he wasn't helpful. What should I do?

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  1. Anonymous

    I would consider finding a new job.

  2. Anonymous

    Are there company-level trainings or initiatives you can sign up or volunteer for? Those can be very helpful for connecting with the company on a higher level, learning how all the pieces fit together, and networking with people from across the enterprise. If not, write up a plan to focus on one piece of the process at a time and present it to your manager. Sometimes we have mismatched expectations. You may be counting on your manager to present assignments similarly to how your teachers managed classrooms, but your job may be at a level where your supervisor is expecting more independent action from you.

    If you have other coworkers with the same role, offer to buy someone a cup of coffee or lunch (and make sure you pay - review the discussion from last week LOL) and ask them about the scope of their role. Your boss may feel like he's pacing you to give you plenty of time to master each piece, he may not feel your performance is strong enough to take on more work, he may prefer to keep parts of the process that another supervisor delegates (individual contributors promoted into supervisory positions sometimes keep some of their original duties to safeguard their comfort zone), or you may be a superstar who's doing your work at a much higher level than your peers and he doesn't know how else to utilize you. Some informal informational interviews with peers might help you pinpoint the underlying issue.

    If your job isn't engaging enough, I've always seen it as an opportunity to design my ideal work day by looking around for problems to solve, then creating a plan where I'm the problem-solver. Even better if the focus of your efforts is on areas you want to develop for your future advancement.

  3. Anonymous

    Ask if you can shadow or cross-train in other jobs in your department, or in a dept that is a customer of yours. Observe and pick out the person that is the real leader. Learn how it all works together. Take all the internal trainings you can to learn. Your education is great, but you also have to learn how it applies to the "real world". Each company has their own way of doing things, and academia and life are often on opposite ends of the spectrum.

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