I was quite surprised to read that there are companies which treat base training as an examination event. How can one be examined on something they're doing for the first time in their lives, given that even the most modern FFS is not a 100% representation of what a real aircraft feels like? I always thought that the word "training" in base training and line training meant that those were primarily opportunities to learn while the intermediate (before safety pilot release) and final line checks were meant to validate the satisfactory learning outcome.
Back to the topic, I fully agree with the aforementioned. It's a matter of how much personal sacrifice you're ready for. If you can get a job that will have you based in your local area and living at home, then it's "just" the irregular work patterns you'll have to deal with. But how would you feel about spending over half of your time, often in blocks of a few weeks at a time, on the road with some randomly selected colleagues that you may or may not make friends with? This is the reality for many, if not most pilots.