You'd be forgiven for thinking that all SWE positions are high-paying soulless FAANG jobs - those jobs get a lot of attention and are very appealing to a lot of

You'd be forgiven for thinking that all SWE positions are high-paying soulless FAANG jobs - those jobs get a lot of attention and are very appealing to a lot of people. But there are tons of other kinds of SWE jobs out there that aren't about squeezing another fraction of a percent of profit out of some process - positions with non-profits, development jobs in medical research of all kinds, or even early stage startups where you get to play a bigger role in the product development. You probably won't make FAANG money, but you can do just fine for yourself in a position where you feel like you're doing something more meaningful.