[Inori]

To begin, I am most definitely on the bottom rung of the company I work at (I'm not on file as an intern, but I may as well be), and my current supervisor is the same one I had during my co-op placement. During said placement at what is now my current workplace, I took a lot of advice from and looked up to my supervisor. There were a few incidences where I questioned his methodology and/or logic, but it was a positive learning experience for the most part.

Lately, however, he's been quite absent during workdays, and not very helpful or responsive when I ask about the things I'm building or give feedback on his legacy code that I'm extending, to the point where I can't continue my assigned project because I don't have the right resources or confirmation that I should continue. I've also come to realize other things since I started working here full-time, but what they are isn't pertinent.

However, toady came the final nail in the coffin. I arrived to find my supervisor not here, and two of my co-workers were discussing a problem in a part of our flagship product that he maintains. It was minor, but had been identified for over a month and clients were starting to complain. Apparently, he had looked the issue over and claimed it was "something with the CSS", then essentially ignored it for a month. I offered to try fixing it, got the go-ahead, and diagnosed multiple issues within three minutes, applying patches and shipping the changes within 30. I'm entirely self-taught with not quite four years of experience; he has a degree and has been working in this industry longer than I've been alive.

The problem is, I'm not sure how to remedy a loss of respect (and trust, to some extent) for a superior and I'm not keen on messing with the chain of command. Additionally, the company I work at is very small (<10 full-time employees, no it's not a startup), so simply alienating him and requesting to work under someone else wouldn't go well for anybody. Have any of you dealt with similar situations? How would you solve a problem like this?

[Skullmeat]

Welcome to office politics. My stepdad worked in IT for years, and has on more than one occasion relayed stories to me about how the people who know the least end up on top. To your credit, you seem to have dealt with it well.

[Blink]

There can be two ways that this can go:

1. He's been stressed out recently, and as a result, he's been acting differently.
2. He's actually an asshole.
3. He's actually just dumb.

I'd wait a bit to see what happens.
I've seen a similar scenario where #1 was the case, but the other two are often the case.

[Oni]

Your boss might not always be right, but they're still your boss.

[Blink]

Your boss might not always be right, but they're still your boss.

^This

I said something similar on the Discord at some point. You don't have to respect them, but you need to obey them.

[DarkMuse]

Whelp that sounds like your average chain of command.

Personally, I would carefully bring up his absences on a personal level and try to (gently) find out if something is wrong. If he doesn't bite, drop it and make it seem like you weren't sure. Be nonchalant about the incident. If he/she is having a personal issue, it'll be much easier to sympathize.

If it ISN'T a personal thing and he indeed is an ass clown (79% likely imo) you're gunna have to get artistic on the individual.
Do your work.
Be respectful.
Do not get yourself in trouble.
Do not talk shit to your coworkers about your boss (they might rat you out or he might overhear)
Make sure you can cover your own ass first and foremost at ALL times.
Keep records of emails, written requests, etc. BCC upper management or other coworkers when appropriate.

Do all this and you'll be alright, and you might even come out on top.

[Ecks]

Welcome to the working world period, it doesn't matter if it is IT or pumping gas, your supervisor is a human being and will eventually annoy the living shit out of you. I have worked in the automotive industry for years, went to work at CDTA in NY, loved the job, ran the night shift fueling cause my foreman figured I knew my shit and was always done early. Year later Foreman decides he is bored of night shift brings another guy in, guy doesn't like how I was doing things, quotes his long time experience with the company, I let him do it his way and laughed in his face when he was forced to take first shift. Every single company in the world, from start up to billion dollar multinational corporations are always going to have the supervisor who has been there too long, thinks they know everything and can't keep up with the actual modern work force, it is such a proven fact that they even made it into a TV show called "Undercover Boss". I wish you luck and keep up the good work, it will eventually be noticed or you will have enough experience to find a better paying position elsewhere.

[sleaze]

this is essentially how jobs work. you just need to get up the ladder.

[Korvidius]

this is essentially how jobs work. you just need to get up the ladder.

There's a position I'm in, it's not assistant manager but it's just under "Your Boss" and above "You" and honestly that's so true it ain't even funny and I fucking hate it. I can't even break the chain because of the business model.

[Bloody Eye]

Your boss could be worried about bigger issues, or just comfortable with their job.