Throwaway because of the DUI I mention in the last paragraph…
I work as a project manager for a large construction company.. this is my second stint at this company. First one lasted 4 years. I left after being strung along for a promotion for ~6 months.. had found another job and put in my notice a few weeks after having been ultimately promoted. Had a two-year hiatus and came back after learning that the grass was definitely not greener elsewhere.
Since coming back, I've had easily 2-3x the workload of any other PM (perks of being close with ops manager I guess……), have made it clear that it wasn't sustainable.. a few changes were made, but where things were removed from my plate, new things took their place. I've had more projects and miscellaneous responsibilities than even Sr. PM's in my company.
I'm definitely good at my job, but to keep my head above water, I've had to sacrifice what feels like EVERYTHING. Free Time, Relationships, Vacations, Hobbies, Sanity.
Normally I'm not one to complain, kind of just keep my head down and work no matter the circumstance. I've never really been a “9-5 and out” person…. bad habits I've learned from my dad who owns his own construction company (key word/difference: owns…)
In January, I worked up a new job description with my boss to fill a need in our business unit that I would ultimately assume. It was exciting because it incorporated things I'm good at, things I enjoy, and things that excite me, was a pretty big step up, and got me out of “day to day” project management and onto a more “macro level” of our business in general. There wasn't exactly a timing put on this, but I knew reviews/promotions happened in March. Figured I could grin and bear it until then.
Fast forward a month… out of nowhere, my boss sends an email to my entire office explaining my new “EXPANDED RESPONSIBILITIES” to everyone… basically summarizing the job description that we had worked on the month prior. Everyone congratulated me on what they assumed was a promotion. Except it wasn't. I was expected to start overseeing all of my PEERS and reviewing their work, etc.
I pretty much dismissed it because I have enough to do without being saddled with a completely separate job in addition to what I am already doing. Especially being that there is no title change, no compensation change, etc. I dabbled a little bit with some of the reports that I was asked to make (but just because I had some free time and wanted to… saved to my desktop and didn't share them).
During the first week of March, I had my review. When it was obvious that I wasn't being promoted at that time, I let it all out and walked into the review with a copy of my current job description and said that none of the things being asked of me are remotely mentioned here, I've busted my ass for years here, and I see coworkers/superiors with less responsibility/expectations. That I wouldn't be doing anything if I wasn't going to be promoted, and that I'm not going to sit around waiting for a promotion and change in compensation. Was told that this would be discussed with our SVP and we'll get it figured out, but that my points were valid and made sense.
Seemed to have made an impression, but over the past few weeks there has been no progress. I've tried to be the “squeaky wheel” and have gotten the “well this is a new position and it's kind of undefined so we're figuring out the process, title”, “Be Patient”, “Don't do something stupid”, “Don't Quit.” etc. etc. etc. And I came to find out that someone else in my office wants to be promoted as well, and apparently that has become a hold-up here… because “politics”.
I know that I'm valued.. to the extent that I'm useful (and especially now when we have more work than people to do it….) and save them from actually having to hire adequately. But I've grown more and more frustrated with this. I'm not looking to be strung along. I'm not looking to be a stop gap, and I'm not looking to hold myself back in order to cover work because we're short staffed.
Definitely don't think I'm crazy, nor do I think I'm asking for more than I deserve, but how long can I reasonably be expected to wait around before I just up and leave? How can I force the issue? I've left once before, I'm obviously not afraid to do it… but we shouldn't have to threaten to leave just to get what we deserve.
I should add that I feel trapped because I got a DUI last year. Definitely comes up on my background check. Definitely frowned upon. My current company knows about it (to the extent that I told my boss and he said 'you didn't tell me that'). Prospective Employers? Tough. It's definitely caused me to feel trapped in my current job, and the financial impact of that (out of state DUI while sleeping in a rental car that was ultimately impounded for 30 days, two lawyers, fines, counseling, loss of driving priviliges for 6 months and the ubers to save face for work everyday..), and it had pretty much caused me to TRIPLE down on my work (and never ever say no). Over that, but still feel the looming presence. On the off chance anyone has had experience with job hunting with a DUI… should I be as worried as I am?