What's the most conservative place for technical folks to move to? SF Bay is the east berlin of our times, unfortunately it also happens to be the tech/vc capital of the world.
Get a federal security clearance. Columbus, OH, augusta, GA, or San Antonio, TX. There are other places but those are the top 3 easiest to get into with a fresh clearance and no experience with cleared work. Once you get a few years under your belt working those types of jobs there are other places which will open to you.
No citizen can simply decide "I'm going to go down to the Federal Building tomorrow & get a security clearance." Nobody can get a clearance until AFTER they're hired for a position requiring one, then the EMPLOYER gives the new employee a background questionnaire to fill out, has them sign it, the employer reviews it, then sends it to the appropriate Federal agency to request a clearance for the new employee. Depending on which clearance the employer needs the employee to have, the investigation & approval process can take anywhere up to 1.5 years.
All of the locations I mentioned above have contracts which have tech jobs and will sponsor a security clearance investigation. Some even have intern GS positions in tech positions.
Most of big tech these days (with the exception of one company...) is allowing remote work. So - physical location doesn't really matter anymore. Find a place with rock-solid connectivity, a low cost of living, and someone that fits what you want out of life. And work from there.
What's the most conservative place for technical folks to move to? SF Bay is the east berlin of our times, unfortunately it also happens to be the tech/vc capital of the world.
Get a federal security clearance. Columbus, OH, augusta, GA, or San Antonio, TX. There are other places but those are the top 3 easiest to get into with a fresh clearance and no experience with cleared work. Once you get a few years under your belt working those types of jobs there are other places which will open to you.
No citizen can simply decide "I'm going to go down to the Federal Building tomorrow & get a security clearance." Nobody can get a clearance until AFTER they're hired for a position requiring one, then the EMPLOYER gives the new employee a background questionnaire to fill out, has them sign it, the employer reviews it, then sends it to the appropriate Federal agency to request a clearance for the new employee. Depending on which clearance the employer needs the employee to have, the investigation & approval process can take anywhere up to 1.5 years.
All of the locations I mentioned above have contracts which have tech jobs and will sponsor a security clearance investigation. Some even have intern GS positions in tech positions.
Most of big tech these days (with the exception of one company...) is allowing remote work. So - physical location doesn't really matter anymore. Find a place with rock-solid connectivity, a low cost of living, and someone that fits what you want out of life. And work from there.