[incahoots]

I think what you've laid out here is invaluable. My skill-set is mostly geared towards sysadmin work, and I loathed working for corporate places, being on-call, dealing with immediate emergencies (which were all superficial), stressed over attending bullshit meetings.

I saw my local library was looking for a sysadmin, it did come with a pay cut, but damn if it isn't a quarter of the responsibilities, fulfilling work, no direct manager, pension, decent healthcare, and I write my own schedule.

No one questions what I do and I have full freedom to come and go without needing to "check-in" with a c-suite.

Will I get rich working this gig, absolutely not but the sense of accomplishment knowing my skill-set is helping the community directly, and those less fortunate fills the pay gap I never thought it could.

It doesn't hurt that it shortened my commute and I do so by bicycle now.

Much much happier now.

[thghtihadanacct]

I traded private for public service over a decade ago and I will never go back regardless of much more pay there is. My product is now the service to my community and pay is straight up compensation for my time and effort. No demands of loyalty, no dangling stock options, no C levels idiots with bright ideas ... just bureaucracy and a semi clear mandate. Its still work and id cut way back if I became wealthy but profits are the farthest thing from our organizations goals.

[lannisterstark]

>My product is now the service to my community

is it though? Your product now is service to a government that may or may not just bomb brown villages for fun.

[klabb3]

This sounds awesome!

> it did come with a pay cut

> a quarter of the responsibilities […] and I write my own schedule […] it shortened my commute

You should factor that into the pay calculation. It’s possible you didn’t get paid less per time-effort.

[mcv]

In the end, money is just a means of exchange by which we try to buy happiness. Well, food and shelter first, but once you've got those covered, it might be more efficient to work for happiness directly instead of trying to buy it with money made on a soul-sucking job.

[david-gpu]

> it might be more efficient to work for happiness directly instead of trying to buy it with money made on a soul-sucking job

I stuck with a stressful job I didn't enjoy because the pay was too good to ignore, with my sights set on achieving financial independence. After all was said and done, the money wasn't worth it; all I got was a bitter taste in my mouth from years of grinding myself down.

A better plan would have been to spend time figuring out what sorts of jobs would be better aligned with my life goals.

[michaelcampbell]

> pension, decent healthcare... > Much much happier now.

Many of us in the US would also be, working for less money and responsibility if we had those.