An experience in professional suspension - Anonymous employee Bridgepoint Consulting Employee Review

Hopes were high when joining as I found this opportunity through networking. During the hiring process, I specified that I was not looking to be nationally deployed. The hiring manager understood and felt comfortable bringing me on. This would come to be untrue later on. My first 90 days were spent on the bench and wasn't utilized for any projects. Management repeatedly told me that this was an anomaly and the "pipeline was strong." After being deployed to my first project, which was for a remote client, it went well and I delivered on expectations. Unfortunately, I spent another two months on the bench and the only proposed clients were in other regions outside of my market, who wanted people on-site full time. This meant being on planes weekly, or spending hours in the car - which I had been upfront about from the beginning that I wasn't interested in that. The expectation wasn't that the role would be fully remote, it was that I would be working with clients in the city/market I joined. The first three months were paid at a minimum of 30 hours per week at the hourly rate, but when consultants are not on a project they are paid only for 15 hours per week. When you have consultants on the bench for months at a time, that creates both a sense of professional and financial instability. During onboarding and the hiring process, I was told that there was no sales or business development as part of the role. If that had been the case it would be a different story. After a total of 7 months and being idle 70 percent of the time, I decided that it was time to seek other opportunities.