New Developer Position
Dear  [Lynn],
I gave up my tech lead position last month. Too much of the same stuff that I allowed to ruin my mood the last time I visited you. Constant criticism, changes being made by other groups without proper prior communication, causing more of those emergency production problems. It just wasn’t worth the ongoing aggravation and stress. Now, I’m back to being JUST a [software] developer, with no one reporting to me. Nice.
Fortunately, I was not forced to take a pay cut. However, the big raises will probably be gone for the next few years. It feels strange, as I have to learn a whole new technology suite to complete my next assignment. The learning will take several months, and I’m not used to being a non-expert. But I think I like it. I’m no longer on call, but still carry a pager, though it’s no longer mandatory. I can now turn it off at night, or anytime, if I want.
Tom