[bor100003]

Can you give some examples of the bigger part of the tech industry without supporting legacy systems, government IT and academia? I feel companies are having very similar business models because all get from the same pool of money.

[WaltPurvis]

I don't know why you want to exclude government IT and academia —- there are tons of good and interesting tech jobs in government and academia -- but anyway, nearly every industry on earth has tech jobs, including IT, hardware, and software, and I could easily spend a month listing hardware and software companies that don't fall into any of the categories the OP finds sickening.

Neither I nor anyone else I personally know who works in tech has ever worked for the "mock-woke" companies, "frat-boy" companies, changing the world or disrupting companies, rent-seeking behemoths, or ad tech companies. Those types of companies are not at all the bulk of the tech industry.

[watermelon59]

How do you get a job in academia without going through a soul-shattering PhD program though?

All my college friends who took an academic path are miserable.

[WaltPurvis]

I wasn't thinking about being a professor, I was thinking of all the IT and academic computing jobs, and all the programming jobs developing software for research and development projects in various disciplines, and hardware engineering in many disciplines, etc. Only a small percentage of people working in those jobs have a PhD; I'd guess the majority hold only a bachelor's degree or less.

[watermelon59]

I would LOVE to work in that capacity. Didn't know it was possible. I thought everyone working in academia was either a professor or a PhD candidate, or students working as TAs and RAs.

How does one go about finding that kind of job?

[WaltPurvis]

Most colleges and universities have employment listings on their web sites, so if there are specific places you're interested in, go directly to their sites to start. You could also search more generally for "academic computing" jobs. If there's a specific field you have expertise in, or just a strong interest in, you could also email the heads of departments or labs to ask them if they might have a need you could fulfill (often they don't even list such openings, especially if they're temporary or part-time); those folks are not exactly inundated with emails from interested job-seekers, so your email will stand out and is unlikely to perturb them.

[watermelon59]

Whoa, that's really cool. I had no idea. Thanks for this!