I spent many years working for small, “cool”,”funky”, and “hip” tech companies, which are supposed to be the best, most creative and rewarding places to work.

I found it to be the exact opposite; extremely stressful, unorganized, poor pay and benefits, and very unfulfilling. All these companies tended to be the same, trying to pitch their next big idea (which was somehow different than the hundreds of competitors who did the same thing). They were almost always headed by some law-school flunky type jackass who did nothing but spout industry jargon and buzzwords, all while promising to make us (i.e. him) rich if we hit it big. Most of these companies went under, or were barely scraping by.

After a few years of this, I decided to go work doing software development for a very very large (fortune 500) non-tech company, and I couldn’t be happier. I find the large corporation provides much, much better pay and amazing benefits, and I really identify with the company goals and truly believe we are doing something good for the planet while we make a profit. I also find the corporate atmosphere to be much less stressful and more relaxing than the “cool funky” startups. I’ve also noticed I seem to be working with a higher caliber of people, which makes the day more pleasant.

This has really changed my life. I no longer dread going to work, but rather look forward to it. My job makes me happy, and this in turn leads to me be much less stressed, and has had quite a positive impact on my relationships, health, and mood (and bank account!).

So my advice is to never give up, there is a dream job out there for you. It may be frustrating to not be able to find it for a while, but look in the places you wouldn’t normally look, and you may be surprised.