I got my BS in MechE in 2012. Got a 1-yr MS degree in 2013. Have worked at three companies since then. One a gov't contractor where I pushed paper for 6 months before I moved onto my next position. I was completely miserable there, did zero engineering work, had to deal with very strict security policies, etc.

Next position was a project engineer for a startup within a larger organization. This had a lot of potential to be a great job. Involved mechanical design, project management, economics, etc. However, the startup had some serious issues (that were out of my control) that surfaced after about 6 months of being there and began to dissipate (literally). So after being there for 9 months, I again found another position.

My current position is in gov't research. I've been at this position for about 1.5 years now, trying to make the best of it. It's a very slow moving, bureaucratic environment. There are a lot of good things about this job, but I don't feel like there is enough learning opportunity for me here. I hate the idea of moving jobs again, but I know that this isn't a career that I want to be in for the long haul, and wasting more time here isn't going to prepare me in any way (more time will hurt in my opinion) for future jobs.

I've heard the expression before that the gov't is where you go for your career to die. Never really thought much of it until I realized how hard it is to even get interviews now. I'm an extremely motivated individual, have had nothing but great reviews at every job that I've had. I have a wide variety of skills, particularly with 3D CAD, FEA, MATLAB, Python, etc. I'm moderately smart, and am a quick learner. I don't even feel like I need to tie myself to a particular industry - I'm just looking for challenges and growth opportunity. What's the best way to go about finding my next position? All advice is appreciated.

TLDR: Looking for more challenging job. Hard working and diverse skill set, just looking for challenges. Having a hard time finding my next opportunity.