Fortunately I was able to work both in academia and industry. Personally, I prefer the industry simply for the reason that you sooner or later you will be rewarded for your effort. There is room for lot of growth in the industry both experience wise and financially. Although one is restricted to a 9-5 lifestyle but the company that I worked for provided me with lot of avenues to enhance my personal skills either in my own time or sometimes the company’s as well. This may not be the case with every company but you can still research and open up a new project within the company if you are really passionate about it and if the company feels a business need for it.

In academia, one needs a lot of patience. The reward is very slow. That’s also if you were able to achieve something after many years of research. There is always the constant threat that even after devoting many years to a project it can be discarded either due to no funds or the project cannot deliver any results. I agree with the posts above that you have the independence but that independence requires much more dedication compared to working in a fixed position in the industry.