That’s a great story Tom — it seems that the more we move away from technical day to day work the unhappier we generally become.

You have to write up your story for sure, we really need people to circulate this kind of thing as some people assume that management is a natural progression in software engineering but it’s often anything but — and we’re happiest when we’re doing work we love, technical work.

As for contracting, I’m 100% with you there — it’s the ideal pathway for senior engineers freeing them of management responsibilities and most office politics!

Thanks for sharing your experiences!