Ask HN: Has anyone worked at the US National Labs before?
I have spent the last 10 years working for FAANG companies, but nowadays I find their performance-review and promotion obsessed cultures to be really draining. Worse, those negative feelings seem to be leaking into my personal life and slowly alienating friends and family.
Therefore, I've been pondering a change of pace. The classic HN answer is of course "create/join a startup", but I've also been looking at areas more adjacent to scientific research.
One option that has come up is the US Department of Energy's national laboratory network[0]. From what I understand, the pay is 33-50% of FAANG, but they do seem to have interesting projects (e.g. the nuclear fusion facility that was recently in the news).
Has anyone here worked at one of them before? What is/was the day-to-day like?
Therefore, I've been pondering a change of pace. The classic HN answer is of course "create/join a startup", but I've also been looking at areas more adjacent to scientific research.
One option that has come up is the US Department of Energy's national laboratory network[0]. From what I understand, the pay is 33-50% of FAANG, but they do seem to have interesting projects (e.g. the nuclear fusion facility that was recently in the news).
Has anyone here worked at one of them before? What is/was the day-to-day like?
[0] https://www.energy.gov/national-laboratories