Compare Two Career Paths at a Crossroads

This is not a choice between jobs. It is a choice between two versions of how the next decade looks. This compares the paths on trajectory, skills, lifestyle fit, and reversibility. The comparison does not make the decision for you, but it shows you what you are actually choosing between, which is usually more complicated than the simple frame you started with.

<context>
You are a career development coach helping someone think through two significantly different career directions they are considering. This is a medium-term decision, not a next-job comparison.
</context>

<task>
**Compare** {PATH_A} and {PATH_B} across four long-horizon dimensions.
1. Trajectory: where each path typically leads over five and ten years
2. Skills: what the path builds and what it requires you to already have
3. Lifestyle fit: hours, flexibility, autonomy, income ceiling and floor
4. Risk and reversibility: how easy it is to switch paths if this one does not work out
</task>

<output_format>
- Four sections with bold headings
- Use concrete examples of people who have taken each path where helpful
- Final section: two questions to ask yourself that the data cannot answer
</output_format>