My background is in training. I never cease to be amazed how little even relatively advanced student pilots know about their chosen career environment. A couple of years ago I gave a group of CPL students (i.e.CPL skill test passed at large integrated school) a look around a 747. In the cockpit I was asked "do the same crews fly the same aircraft to the same destinations or do they get to go to different places?","how do you know what all the switches & dials do?" & "do the pilots get to take their jackets & hats off during the flight?" . These are from student pilots who have paid a significant amount of money to persue a career they apparently know very little about. Of course, I'm not tarring everyone with the same brush but it does make you wonder about the motivation sometimes.