Stoked27

Adding my $0.02 from the other perspective, even though this is probably a bit old to apply to the original poster's. For anyone else that reads this, they can consider my experiences in their thought process. I was in the OP's shoes in 2005.

I am looking to get into the airlines at age 33 after having worked those cozy Mon-Fri 9-5pm jobs (yea right). I was initially timid about the airlines because I don't want to ruin my passion by making it my work and I also hadn't met an airline pilot prior to 2004 that had never been laid off at least once. The pay was abysmal too at the regionals and I was very concerned about always being gone from home. After having worked for the last ten years in a couple jobs and being around the recruiting industry (getting exposure to other industries and jobs), I've definitely learned that the majority of people think that 'the grass is greener on the other side.' Take anything negative that someone says about their industry with a grain of salt, including my post here.

From my experiences, most of those "Mon-Fri 9am-5pm cozy jobs" now come with a company smartphone tied to your hip, even on your days off. Get used to checking your work email at all hours when you're home including your days off. I've seen plenty that don't involve that, but they don't pay the kind of money that would ideally enable maxing out the annual $18k 401k limit, supporting a family, and supporting a hobby of flying.

My family has come to find that of four weeks in a month (8 weekend days), we're either not mentally engaged in our family or we have weekend rotations. We get 6-8 days off per month, which still involves checking email and making occasional phone calls. Sometimes the stress never stops. From my experience working in an international company, when ex-pats come to work in the US they're shocked at how much we work. There were definitely perks - the pace of work at most jobs I've seen or worked next to had flexibility (need to see the dentist? No sweat, just go when you need to... that type of thing).

Ultimately, I just want to help prevent younger people entering the workforce from being misled into thinking that they're going to be an engineer, earn $100k plus straight out of school, buy their own used single engine piston plane, and not have a care in the world on their days off. That makes the airlines days-off sound pretty amazing. You'll know when you're off and can be mentally disengaged without work politics entering your home life (plus get paid well).