I recently started a new job as a construction superintendent; at least that’s my title. I have spent the last 7 years inspecting highway construction and am very familiar with the industry and it’s practices.
I was interviewed and hired for a position that is essentially inspection, but for the contractor side of things. They want me on large jobs measuring everything with the inspectors to ensure quantities match and everyone stays happy.
The problem I have is with how things are running. The project manager I’m under is the president of the company and a former owner. The superintendent I’m working with is one of the best they have and is currently overseeing almost half of all the work the company has been hired for.
The superintendent thinks because of my title, I’m supposed to be taking some of his workload from him. The PM/president is using me to take some of his workload. I basically have parts of three different jobs.
I have no experience as a superintendent.
That was obvious in my interview. They knew they were hiring me for a unique position they had created, but now I’m being given tons of additional responsibilities by the President.
This is creating friction between me and the other superintendent, because he thinks I’m supposed to be helping him on his job as another super, but I’m constantly being pulled to do other things by the president.
Nearly every morning I have to deal with the super blowing up at me and verbally abusing me about being worthless and not helping him at all. I’ve told him every time that I’m working 9-15 hours a day and trying to keep up and catch up on these jobs that started 3 months before I was hired and I’m doing all I can. He will then proceed to tell me he will talk to the president about my responsibilities. Spoiler, he hasn’t.
I’m more than happy to learn the position and take some of his work in addition to my own because I’ve always wanted to be a high achiever wherever I’ve worked; but every time I ask a question, I’m told it’s stupid and he doesn’t have time for it.
When I finally asked the president if the super had talked to him yet, he told me he hadn’t. I explained the situation and was basically told to suck it up, but that he would have a meeting with the super.
The twist here is that my father works for this company and is friends with the super, so I’m trying not to make waves. However near daily verbal abuse combined with an increasing workload and no home life is putting me in a bad place.
We’re a smaller company with no HR and if I quit it makes my father look bad. I just don’t know what to do.
I’ve always excelled at my previous jobs and have performance reviews to back it up, so I feel like it can’t be my fault that I’m failing here; I’m trying my best in an unsupportive work environment.
TL;DR
Verbal abuse and insane workload at my new job, but my father is a valued employee at the company and I don’t want to make him look bad.