After a few years working in the computer industry, I've taken some time off to do some serious thinking about whether I want to continue working in this field or move on.

The money which tends to go with these sorts of positions is always tempting—our society has enshrined money as the primary measure of success or failure—but even the highest salaries often don't begin to approach fair compensation for the demands on one's life which come with such jobs.

These demands might be acceptable if I had a strong commitment to a company or organization for personal reasons (say, as a major investor (one with stock, as opposed to stock options), or if the organization is working for something I strongly believe in). But the demands which are all too often made of individuals without such personal commitments seem excessive and unreasonable to me.

I would prefer to have a job with a lower salary which allows me to leave it behind when I leave the office. It would be even better if I truly cared about the goals of the organization or company. But I don't think I could accept another position which demanded twenty-four hour access to my life and control over what is supposed to be my "free time" outside of work without such a personal involvement.

I've also thought a lot about the kind of work I could do, and I believe that a position which allows me to be very involved in the creation of a final product—be it a Web site, a manual, a proposal, a network installation, or a functioning server—rather than merely strive against an ever-rising tide of tedious work maintaining an existing system which allows other people to create things.

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