I think you are expecting 2 different goals to align itself for you: 1) work on interesting project 2) to be paid salary for it. It rarely happens. If working

I think you are expecting 2 different goals to align itself for you: 1) work on interesting project 2) to be paid salary for it. It rarely happens. If working on interesting project is very important for you, you can do it as side project or start up. Or, seek out specific department in companies where such interesting work is happening. You might also have to sacrifice some amount of salary to work in such companies/startup.