Well, since Bman and CJdriver were kind enough to make a number of excellent points I'll toss in a bit about some differences you need to be prepared for, and since I'm familiar with my company more than others I'll give you a quick overview. Keep in mind that EVERYTHING varies from operator to operator, unlike the very standard across the board airlines. Nothing is standard in the GA world.
Schedule: Here is mine, I am called before 1800est for a trip the following day of any length, no call means I'm "off" but on a 2 hour callout from 0700-1800. Pop-ups, as we call them, are few and far between and are refusable to a point, so a day off is a better way to call it. If I don't receive a call by 1800 friday than I am off until Tues. For the most part my company sticks to that, well, mostly. We have no hard days off with the exception of personal and or vacation.
Pay-Base+flight+wait. The base is minimal and is not enough to live on. Pay is wildly variable so this is just an example of one scheme.
Upgrade-no matter where you go this is based on company need, not time or experience. Timing is all that matters, getting in the door as a street captain is the way to go, otherwise don't bother thinking about it because it could be a long while.
Clients-be prepared to get more personal with pax than you ever thought possible...and these are the rich people, and they are mostly nuts. Getting yelled at from time to time because of any number of reasons is far from unusual. As with everything, some are great and some aren't, but you are the one who's there when there's a problem.
Expect to sign a training contract, in this day and age it is becoming more the norm than not, but if you dont have to obviously this is a sign that the job is good enough that the employer is not worried about turnover and people stay-a great indicator of a good career job.
Hotels, overall, are considerably nicer than what you're probably used to. Good thing too, since you'll be in them a helluva lot more on average. Just remember, 5 days in Cabo doing nothing on somebody else's bill sounds cool as hell, and it is in many ways, but it's still 5 days away from home spending all that time with another pilot, sitting. Trust me, it will get old, especially if you have a family and like them even a little bit.
Destinations typically vary widely, and that can be a lot of fun. Just remember there is a reason we crash more, be careful with whom you choose to get involved and check on the safety record as much as possible before accepting a position. There are a ton of great operators out there, definitely more good than bad, but there's a lot of yahoos too.
So, in summary, keep in mind this is only one example and every one of those I gave can be vastly different at any company, but it'll give you an idea. If the "hard" schedule apppeals to you, or if turning left and shutting the door, doing your job and going home are important to you, than corporate might not be what you want. If that doesn't matter as much as other things, than it can be great.
Again, good luck.
PS-Do you have a Mich connection? That's where I'm at and would be happy to give you a heads up in the area or help in any other way (that's what corporate's really all about
)
TC
