I am a rookie here with the FAA (all of 2 weeks) but so far it's been great. I plan to fly w/ the ANG so the hours of paper work will be balanced with a good TDY here and there. Your major may actually mean something here too. If you have a family too I can't imagine a more stable job and you can work 17-18 days a month here with a flex schedule. From what I've seen so far there are problems, but you will find that at any large org. so just try to keep the Big picture of life in mind. Good luck and really prepare your answers to the application and spend time on the KSA's.