Originally Posted by
Mink
In my short time (7 years) in corporate aviation (former mil, a little time at the majors), it seems to me the breakdown goes a bit like this: 10% of the jobs are like winning the lottery with great pay, great schedules, great people. Another 15% are pretty good in that there's good pay but maybe the schedule sucks (or vice versa), or there's some other factor that falls into "if we could only fix XYZ this place would be perfect..." category. And the other 75% of corporate jobs are cr@p - nothing more than a stepping stone to something (hopefully) better.
I'd say the best gauge to determine what kind of job it is you're pursuing is to ask around about the culture in the flight department (corp aviation is a small world), and look at the turnover rate. Especially now, when pilot employment opportunities are growing, there's no need to stick it out at a $hit job. If a flight department you're interested in has a hard time keeping people I'd say that's your #1 sign that maybe you ought to look elsewhere for that dream job.
Good luck.
This is by far the best explanation I have read in regards to corporate aviation. He's right about the 10 and 15% club. You never know about a corporate position until you actually are on property. I've gotten to work for some great companies, and I've worked for terrible chief pilots who have no business flying aircraft and managing flight departments.
I'm done with corporate and I'm running to the airlines. The worst airline schedule is ten times better then having live on a terrible corporate schedule.