[ant_li0n]

I definitely agree - the level of formality is significantly increased, even over Slack, because of the "permanence" you referenced.

I switched teams 4 months ago (old team dissolved in a merger) into an area where I don't have any experience (Django backend -> "DevOps-y" microservices in Go and infrastructure type stuff). These are skills I want to possess and I was grateful for the opportunity. Unfortunately the outcome has not been what I had hoped. I'm trying hard to teach myself but I'm missing so much. My teammates are all significantly more senior and are extremely busy. My experience and reputation in other areas feels like it actually hurts me -- am I not actually a competent programmer, like I thought I was?

Worse is I feel worried about switching teams again. What if I don't succeed there, either? Will I need another 4-6 months to ramp up and gain knowledge? I don't want to end up a pariah, or be seen as an incompetent developer who can't be relied upon.

I'm applying to jobs at other companies now. I know I'll face many of the same challenges there as well, but I don't really know what else to do.