If we all paraded around telling everyone how
specifically good it can be, then our best kept secret wouldn't be a secret anymore.
Let's just say that when my airline friend poo poo my "little jet" and my corporate job that isn't as "dignified" as an airline job, I just smile and let them jabber.
Pay: totally adequate
Benefits: great
QOL: very very good
equipment: meticulously maintained
training: excellent
all that and pilots tend to stick around for 30+ years at my place. So what exactly am I missing by not doing the airline thing? I don't know, but my airline friends are convinced I'm missing out while they sit reserve at Newark.
A caveat is, each corporate department is different, like each company. The department's culture and resulting QOL is a reflection of the combined aptitude and attitude of the scheduling, the chief pilot, the maintenance and the interaction of the other pilots. When is well run, fair and everyone gets along great, lemme tell you it's the best thing around.
On the other hand, I've seen corporate gigs be every bit as miserable as part 135 charter because of understaffing, underpaying, skimping on training/mx or a Nazi-style chief pilot. Best advice is to do your homework on flight departments and choose the one you'd like to work for NOT based on the glamorous Gwhiz they fly, but on the recommendation of past and present pilots. It is far preferable to fly a Citation for a well run, well outfitted company with a great QOL, then to fly a big fat Trans galactic Ego-2000 for a company that treats you like a field slave. Big companies do not always equal great QOL. Sometimes the best places to work are for companies at the bottom of the Fortune 500 list, who stay out of the limelight and keep a low profile. They are harder to get info on, but if you find a good one and get in the door, it's like hitting gold (or oil nowadays...)