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--- Academia or Industry? How do I choose? ---
One of the toughest questions we scientists and engineers face as we near the end of our PhD is: Do I stay in academia or go get a job in the private sector? Academia or industry? Well, the decision doesn’t have to be so hard. Here are three questions to consider:
 
Question 1: Are you interested in the applications for your research? Do you find that you frequently think about how your research will be used?
If so, this is probably an indication that you would enjoy industry, because that’s what it’s all about - identifying and creating applications for the awesome research that is done in academia.
 
Question 2: Do you like variety in your work environment or do you prefer consistency?
Would you be excited by working on a new project every year or two, or maybe every 6 months!, or would you prefer to keep working on one or two research areas over many years, developing a deeper knowledge and expertise over time?
If you prefer change, you are a good candidate for an industry career
Industry is typically much more dynamic, with things changing on a regular basis to keep up with changing markets, competition, or simply to grow the company. I’ve found this to be very exciting in my own career.
I get bored easily and like a new challenge Also, I love to learn new things, and this gives me a chance to learn something totally new regularly.
Academic research generally doesn’t change so frequently.
 
Question 3: Is work-life balance important to you? If so, you probably want to consider a career in industry, because generally speaking, people in industry have more time for life outside of work.
I have a theory on this: Industry is more about specific results, whereas academic research tends to be very open ended - you can always understand a problem better, have more publications, do more modeling, collect more data…
In industry, there tend to be specific results you are trying to achieve, that usually result in shipping something to a customer. When you get those results, or if your plan shows that you are on schedule to get them on time - you can go home!
I remember how while working on my PhD, it always seemed that there was more I could do. And because results were so far off, it felt like my progress was measured by my effort, not by specific milestones I was achieving. The longer I worked, the more effort people saw me putting in, and the better I felt I was doing.
Ever since I went into industry, I’ve had specific milestones to achieve. I knew what was expected this week, this month, or this year. And as long as I felt I was making good progress towards these milestones, I felt fine going home. What mattered was that I got the work done, now how long I was there or how much effort I put in. And if I found a way to get it done faster, that was a bonus that helped me!
It’s not that you don’t hear of entrepreneurs working very long hours to get their companies off the ground - you do! But generally speaking, people in industry have more time for life outside of work.
Trying to decide on academia vs industry can seem very challenging, but it doesn’t have to be as bad as it seems. Most of the uncertainty stems from not knowing much about industry, and so you are trying to choose between something that is familiar and something you know nothing about. That’s not easy.
If you are still feeling uncertain, make an effort to learn more about industry. Do some informational (expert) interviews with people in industry. Ask them what they like/don’t like about their careers. This will help quite a bit.