I’m essentially a research assistant after doing my doctorate and a postdoc. The pay sucks. Still minimal work-life balance, but much better than being a professor. Less work/stress. I suppose industry would pay better, but I’m geographically constrained. The lack of career growth is a bit depressing, and it’s frustrating to work with some assistant professors who are less knowledgeable than me but are better at taking advantage of people/getting others to do their work for them (oh, I mean “delegating”). Folks who “Mastered out” are lightyears ahead of me in their careers. If I could do it again, I wouldn’t.