Ok. Say you came to Gatwick, you could expect a reasonable roster, albeit quite hard work on the days you come to work (i.e. long days, but you will get a min of 11+ days off a month). You can get a mixture of (up to) 5 day tours and day trips. Me? I like day trips, so end up most months doing about 8-11 doubles with the rest made up of day trips/single nightstops. As a junior pilot, you will get a few weekends off too. This is because we are rostered by Carmen and seniority has less effect. The flip side of the coin is that as you become more senior, you can still expect to work weekends!
The earlies are very early at the moment (something like 6 reports before 5:30), and our lates can get back after midnight. The good thing about Gatwick is the operation. You only ever wait a few moments for a bus (on the stands that we get crew busses - We walk to/from Jubilee from many stands) The time on you roster is when we get home (most of the time - Soz if the a/c breaks, but sh!t happens!) Holding is a thing that we hear about and don't generally do, and the operation is geared up to helping you depart.
But last and not least, remember
Gatwick is a poor cousin of Heathrow
Hence people run away! But I love it here...