More On The Pay Cut: Planning For A Long-Term Job Change

We all know people, or at least stories about people, who leave their lucrative jobs to follow their hearts, making less money but being far happier in the long run. In my last post, I talked about the fact that I was considering applying for a job that would involve taking a pay cut for a couple of years, but that would give me more flexibility down the road. No big updates on that job yet. I applied, and I have already been contacted by the person doing the hiring, who told me he was glad I'd reapplied and that he'd be in touch in July when he's ready to start scheduling interviews. So that's a good sign. I got so excited thinking about this job, and what it could mean for me, that I decided I should apply for a few more similar positions, just in case this one didn't come through. Eggs in multiple baskets, etc.

But what is the long-term game plan? It's my career, I should be thinking about this over the long haul, not just the couple of years this job would last. In talking to one of my recommenders for this job, my dirty little secret came out. I want to be a law professor. Eep! I said it. Low(er) pay, long hours, constant pressure to publish, those few horrid and overly entitled law students who can't be bothered to show up to your class but have time to bitch during your office hours when their grades are too low. What's not to love about that? Lots, honestly, but for me those aspects are outweighed by the facts that I love to read and write about legal theory, I love teaching students who are engaged with the material, and I love (and miss) the intellectual stimulation of a college campus. I think about my life as a lawyer and I think, "this will be worth it when I can retire early." I think about life as a post-tenure professor and I think, "so long as I am in good health, why would I want to retire?" That's a good sign about the direction I'd be happiest with in my career.

PF advice tends to assume that unless she screws it up or the economy goes to hell, a person's income will trend upward over her working life. That right out of school, you won't be making very much, but that economic growth and promotions and salary negotiations will gradually improve your situation. I'm looking at the opposite situation, in which my salary just out of school is really high, but falls sharply a few years out as my career path shifts. By the numbers, this choice is idiotic. As a human being with an emotional life not denominated by dollars, it's a wrinkle, but one that has workarounds.

So as I am thinking about this job change, and the job changes I hope to make down the road, two questions are at the top of my mind. First, what can I do to give myself the best possible set of credentials to go on the teaching market in three years? And second, what can I do now, as a high income earner, to improve my financial situation and ease the transition to a permanently lower paying job for which I may need to be geographically flexible?