"I work in a small corporate firm in the north and am one-year qualified in a niche area. However, the last six months I have not had much work as the lead partner has not been busy himself.

"I have tried to keep myself busy by offering to work for other teams, but I appreciate it's only a short-term solution. Even then I have loads of downtime. I also try reading up on my niche area just to keep myself occupied. I have talked to the partner, but he appears to have his own plans."

"My biggest concern is I am falling behind – when I look at job ads for similar NQ roles, there are many areas I have not come across. So if I don't do anything soon, the gaps in my knowledge will widen even further. I know teams in other firms are reasonably busy, and I have even considered going for NQ jobs – but are there any other solutions?"