First office job. feeling odd about it

[JustGettingBy]

A couple of months ago I landed my first office job, and although its been very clearly a huge net positive in my life, some aspects of it feel strange. Its not because of work from home (although that may be exasperating some of the issues), but there's a few things that have me...slightly worried.

I certainly don't have 40 hours of work per week. I'm able to keep busy by practicing some stuff. For example: I'm in marketing and within the next couple of months my boss wants me to start making animated videos for the company, so I've been practicing that when I have the time. However, even with stuff like that I find a lot of my work to be "busy work" making my marketing plans more detailed than they should be, creating budgets for stuff so far in advance that I know there's going to be big changes, etc. My boss has said most of my work has been good, and when it wasn't, I've taken the time to fix it. I've listed my duties and asked "is there anything I should be doing in addition to this?" and been told that what I've listed is an accurate list of my duties, and what I've been focusing on is correct. I've submitted plans, and told that our campaign will start when others have made their contribution, with updates often not coming for multiple weeks.

I feel like my job seems almost redundant (even though due to the nature of the company, it an agency or freelancer would never take it due to the specialized situation) because I actually spend about 4-5 hours per day actually being productive, and most of the rest is "looking busy". Is this normal, or should I be worried that my job my be redundant enough that I might be laid off? Its a new position in case that plays a role.

Thanks.

[glows]

It's only two months. Wait and see. Your boss is giving you feedback. Check in again after the regular probationary period. Don't bite off more than you can chew this early. Observe more.

[Foxhall]

8 hours ago, JustGettingBy said:

I actually spend about 4-5 hours per day actually being productive,

Enjoy this while you can,

you dont really want to be snowed under and working round the clock do you?

[ShyViolet]

Some jobs are just like that.  Not every job has a huge workload; some jobs have a lot of downtime.  Maybe they just don't realize that you are able to get your work done in a much shorter time than allotted and you have as much downtime as you do.  Just be appreciative that you don't have the opposite problem, of having a massive workload that stresses you out.  As long as your boss says that you're doing well and that everything's fine, then believe them and enjoy the low-stress. job.  I wouldn't even complain about this.  I would spend the extra time on other things.

[vla1120]

Because it is a new position, they may still be gauging what duties you should be doing, and you could have added duties as you move forward (like the animated videos). It's better that they start you off slow and allow you to grow into the position rather than to overload your plate from day one. It also gives you an opportunity to make the position your own, rather than stepping into the shoes of someone who's already done an existing position for years, and having preconceived expectations of your work.