I am just a few days under a year in the profession. I have spent more time in training than I have actually flying for the company so far. I am on reserve (on-call). We bid for our schedules by seniority. I bid and receive a overnight reserve schedule. Most reserve schedules are unpaid 14 hour shifts. I live at the base that I fly out of so it's not bad at all; I get 75 hours minimum pay (our salary) and get called only once or twice a month to take an overnight flight. One thing I don't see mentioned previously is that we as pilots are FAA limited to a maximum of 100 hours of flight time in a month, so 75 hours of guaranteed pay is not much less pay than if i was bustin my hump for the company every day. It’s also very difficult to find a second job which will allow you leave at the drop of a hat if you get called to fly. I haven't managed to find one yet... Any ideas? The bad news is that you’re still required to be ready to fly, if called, within 90 minutes. Therefore, live at your base unless you only want to be home 2-3 days a week. Commuting blows from what I've been told by pilots that don't live at their base. They sit in a 1-2 bedroom apartment with up to 8 other pilots (crash pad) waiting to be called for 4-5 days at a time and they have to chip in about $200.00 a month to do so.