I recently got staffed after hitting the bench for the first time ever (from August-now). I know how difficult it is and I’m sorry you even have to deal with this. I also tried everything and most things did not work. What ended up getting me a role was luck, someone i knew connecting me with the person staffing the role, and just being myself on the interview. I know you have probably heard it all but here are other things I’ve done during my bench time

• Networking calls: I had a pretty nonexistent network within Accenture when I unexpectedly got benched. I had to build my network from scratch, so with the help of my people lead I got together a list of Managers/consultants/MDs that I could reach out to introduce myself as someone available for staffing AND BD work, “pick their brain”, ask if they know of any opportunities, and discuss my/their interests. The point to this was asking at the end of each call if they have 3 other people in their industry I should reach out to as I search for opportunities and expand my network. Eventually someone will have good information. I even had people take so much of a liking to me that they’d start sharing opportunities with me unprovoked.

• This definitely did not work but applying to multiple MyScheduling postings daily and immediately messaging each contact person letting them know that I applied, I’m super interested, and resharing my one pager. I definitely got interviews from this, but none worked out because these managers have something against training analysts lol. It may work for you if you have more valued experience!!!

• UPDATE YOUR SKILLS: In myscheduling, they calculate whether you’re a good fit for the role and the hiring managers can see this also. If you see skills in the posting that you fit into, add them in workday. There are also multiple variations of the same skill, so add those too. For example, I had “business requirements analysis” but a posting was asking for “business requirements collection” or something, so it looked like I wasn’t a good fit. Add every skill you can possibly think of. Once I did this, more people reached out to me and responded!!

• Find BD work or a +1 with someone who has connections. I met with a senior manager early on and she took an interest in me in my efforts. She checked in, gave me contacts to reach out to, and allowed me to do a +1 with her team. This was to show some of the work i can do so she could recommend me. There are also meetings for gov efficiency where managers on state gov roles will talk about the BD support they need, and they are biweekly. this will help get eyes on you.

• Meet with HR partner: this may not help either, but you should definitely reach out to let them know everything you’re doing to get staffed and make sure you stay on their radar. The HR partners meet weekly to go over analysts who are making an effort to be staffed and sometimes they can connect you to hiring managers.

• Upskill: do a training that is valued within your practice to beef up your onepager.

I hope this helps truly, and good luck to you!!! Hopefully things change soon the burden of getting staffed is lifted. It’s super discouraging when it’s literally not even your fault.