Projectless. It’s a real word now. As a consultant, you sometimes experience periods without projects or job offers. Sometimes it is seasonal (Companies usually don’t start up a new project during Christmas and Summer Holiday season), and sometimes it’s simply because no one is hiring. It happens. In 2015 I went through several months of no-projects-for-me, and since I was quite new to the consultant business, I had to learn how to tackle those periods – the hard way. It’s my hope that others in this situation can use these experiences, for inspiration, or at least for knowing that you are not alone.
Stage 2: Got better at testing. And waiting.
Even though I had no gigs, I didn’t have to hang around in an office and pretend to be busy. Instead I started improving some test related skills. I signed up for the BBST online class, joined different test networks on Twitter, Slack and Facebook, read a lot of test-related material.. and waited. And waited. And then I waited some more. It was a very special form of waiting. I didn’t want to take on any longer courses or personal projects, because I needed to make room in my future schedule for that project that was waiting just behind the riverbed. So I focussed on short, easily manageable things instead. And after waiting some more I started to get a nagging feeling in my stomach. I wanted to prove myself, I wanted to be an asset to my new company, but I felt like there was nothing I could do. I was new in testing, my network was limited and I had only started participating in the rich context-driven test group on Twitter. I needed something to do. 
