The main issue for you seems to be you don't live in a major tech hub, or isn't in a remote position from a company built with such values. There you'll be abl

The main issue for you seems to be you don't live in a major tech hub, or isn't in a remote position from a company built with such values. There you'll be able to get mentoring and grow faster, but beware... 'passion for craftsmanship' is something you'll rarely see. People working in big tech or companies that move fast they prefer to be pragmatic, and you'll see many bad solutions running in production just because it was faster to ship. How do I vet companies? I go to work in companies where I know good people work. Try to engage with your community and see who are the main drivers of progress in your programming language or infrastructure you use, try to work where they work. Honestly people in tech are so kind that if you just ask whoever inspires you, what companies they believe are doing great work, I bet they'll have alternatives. Also and not the least, work in a programming language that has a great community looking for progress. Not all communities are like this, some are stuck in the past. I'm (likely) way older than you and can safely say that you should seize this desire to grow, go for what you want. As it's much harder to jump into a cool company when you are in your 40s if you have nothing impressive in your CV. As you are still in the beginning of your career, all the doors are open but you need to make sure you are running. Of course, don't quit cold turkey, but make sure you are always moving strategically to build yourself up. Also, make sure to analyze yourself what you want in life. Not everyone needs to work for Meta, make $1M comp, but have a negative impact on everybody's mental health. And also nobody needs to grind hard their whole lives, maybe talk to a professional therapist as they can help you understand what you really want in life. If you ask here on HN people here often work in FAANGs or are founders and are dedicated to the grind, meanwhile they 'achieve' much, it may not be what you want. It's perfectly fine to be content with less need for money or social acceptance. Just by being disciplined you can have a pretty good financial situation while working as a software engineer for a mid-tier company. It took ~20 years coding and chasing rainbows for me to find this out. Whether in FAANG or big/small company, or even building your own business I hope you find what you want!