How much is the feeling of dread on a sunday evening at the prospect of another week of work worth? 40/50/100k?I've had a few different jobs including most recently consultancy. And yes whilst the pay is better in this role I reflect mournfully on the Halcyon days of going to bed on Sunday and it not being an issue at all that I was in work the next day. I even looked forward to it as I had good mates there and we had virtually zero pressures. I do often wonder how much that feeling is worth.Ultimately we only work for the pay cheque we get at the end of the month ( I don't care what anyone says about personal satisfaction etc, they just make the selling of your labour easier to bare) When you actually look at the extra £'s you've recieved for giving up your own time, living away, working with cretins I wonder is it worth it? The extra money can only buy more things, things which you don't even get chance to get the benefit from because you are working so much. Thoughts?

Having worked in consulting and subsequently for a major law firm, even worse I know, I never had any regrets leaving the service industry. I was lucky enough to land a job in industry which paid the same as my previous job. I must admit I do miss the fun of working on different project and with different clients and, I never thought I would say this, but I do miss flying out on Mondays to clients', but what I have now is way way better-normal working hours, plenty of time to see my friends and family, no clients to bug me over every little detail, no obnoxious partners and no over blown panicking and pressure over something that was done thousands of times before in exactly the same way. I guess, one has go to go through the service industry to start really appreciating things that really matter.

If you can't enjoy what you do then no amount of money will ever make it worthwhile. All jobs have ups and downs, pros and cons, good days and bad days and we're all grown up enough to realise that if there are more bad days than good then we are probably in the wrong place. If you can't enjoy even one day in a whole year of work then life is way too short for you to be chasing down money for the sake of it.Having said that take a look at some of the more positive aspects:1) You have a job - 2.5million people don't2) Assuming it is project based and so will be changing to another project sometime in the future3) You have a chance to look for another role whilst still in a job4) Your job is not likely to kill you5) People change all the time - that a**hole you are working with now may not be around to bug you in a month's time or neither may youThe grass really does always appear to be greener on the other side and in truth going back to what you did before is like reaching for a comfort blanket and probably just cos you don't like your current job.If its really that bad - quit

I agree with Adrian. I left consulting at a strategy house to go to industry for the same money, albeit with slower progression. That decision was mainly to escape the horrible Sunday feeling you describe and that sinking feeling each morning when I heard my blackberry beep with countless messages. As you mention, there are aspects I’ll miss but they are few and far between. I do believe that if you’ve been lucky enough to get the experience and find out what it’s truly like then you can really appreciate industry jobs so much more. This is just my opinion though and I’m sure there are people who enjoy their consulting work and lifestyle. Nevertheless, if you’ve given any role a good go and discovered it’s really not for you, and you don’t have to stay (i.e. there is suitable income available elsewhere), then why put yourself through it?