I am going to be honest with you.
The flying itself is fun. I am thankful every day when I see the plane I am flying knowing I will take control of her.
When I hear a plane flying over, I ALWAYS look up to identify it.
This business is NOT for everyone. The chance you will get into an Legacy Carrier, or an Operator with proper Rosters, is really small.
Nowadays you will be most surely going to fly ACMI > Wet Lease, and not directly hired, but as a Contractor. Bases all over the world. 20 on 10 off or something. That means you will be away from home A LOT. Is your home situation allowing you that? Because AIDS > Aviation Induced Divorce Syndrome IS a thing. I have my first Divorce behind me, and so is with many of my colleagues.
You will be away from home and miss all the family gatherings, Xmass, NYE, Birthdays, Family Reunions, etc etc.
Or if you fly Europe Favo Airline > Blue and Yellow, you are going to bust your bollocks 4 legs a day, turn around 25 mins. Always tensed, same is with outfits like the Orange ones and the Purple Pink ones for instance.
If you are lucky that your base is close to home, then at least you will be sleeping every day in your own bed. This is great, but if you wish to see something of the world, then maybe not, as in those jobs, and nothing wrong with it, but it is more like driving a bus. Every day the same, and I know loads of guys who fly these kinds of ops, and sadly they lose the love for their job very quickly as it becomes very monotonous.
The flying itself Medium Jets is fun, I used to fly the 737 before I got on the Queen. It is really fun to fly her.
But that is about the Medium Jet Market.
Turbo Prop is even harder work. Not seldom, you will have more than 4 Legs a day. Lots of Duty but not so much Flight time. Very often with not-so-great terms and conditions. And probably stuck on Turbo Props for a long time, as many airlines consider those hours as useless when you apply for a Jet Job, which in my opinion is ridiculous, as you really learn to fly with those TPs.
Then the Business Aviation, very often even Lower Paid, but you pay of course also 20-30K for your TR, and in return, you get about 2500 Before tax.
If you are lucky you move on to clubs such as Vista, Flex, or NetJets, otherwise, stuck for a long time in small Biz operators, where it is more like cowboy ops. And not to forget, there you will not ONLY be a Pilot, you are also a Luggage Loader and helping with Snow Removal.
And moving on from Biz to bigger gigs, is even harder, as the airlines know that most Biz operators are Not as strict with SOPS.
Then the general common thing in the aviation business, if you do not end up in Major / Legacy Carriers, the other operators are there to always screw you. Low T and C's, especially with your first job. Ignoring Flight Time Limitations. Giving you horrible tours, sh1.t.tty hotels, no proper crew catering.
You NEED to know the truth about our business. Dig more into it. If you are not passionate about it, you won't hold out till the legal retirement age. Most probably not even 5 years, or maybe after 5 years you are stuck, knowing that with the 9-5 job, you will make less, than staying in our business. Because if you do make it in a more proper outfit, you have the chance to earn pretty OKish.
I can tell from my own experience as mentioned earlier, 1 divorce, luckily no kids involved with that woman, and now a GF who really has hard times when I'm away from home. It is tough. Also for me, I breathe JET A1 Fumes and have JET A1 in my body. This has been my dream ever since I was a kid. Back then even I had the chance to sit in the cockpit during the flight for a few hours, that confirmed it, I wanted to become a pilot, it only took MAAAAANY years until I got where I am right now. I love it with all my heart.
I watch tons of documentaries about aviation, Air crashes and Incidents, and read Accident and Incident reports.
This is NOT a job for someone who thinks, it might be a nice job, not it is NOT nice, it is really Great, but ONLY when you love it.
I am happy in the company where I fly for, but again, being away that much from home is also a potential relationship/marriage killer. You have to accept that and need someone behind you who supports you and can handle it.
Wow, I have written a Novel here, but just think about everything yourself. Evaluate it. Ask yourself if after reading this and knowing how this business really is if this is for you and worth spending or wasting your money at.
I would do it again if I was 10 years younger, as I cannot imagine myself doing something else.
I wish you a lot of wisdom.