Its very easy to get carried away with the prospects of flying a shiny Emirates aircraft, but one thing that is very often overlooked, is where will you be in 10 years time.
Great, you may have a few thousand hours in command but where will that take you?
One aspect that is not always considered is your children's education.
Dubai is great when your kids are young, but will you want them to spend their whole education as an expat in an arab country?
Dont kid yourself and think that by that time Emirates will have basings or will make your life as a commuter easy. They never will.
You will be forced to make the decision either to split up the family or start looking for another job.
Where will that be? A contracting job in China? A great prospect to end your flying career!
All EK want is a bum on seat. They will flog you to the max with no regard for your long term health. Your contract will change many times.
I am constantly flying with a relatively new first officer who does nothing but bleat and whine about "if only they knew beforehand, they would never have joined"
Many f/o's cant wait to leave, some cant because they have got themselves in debt, others cant because there is nowhere to go.
The "good times" disappeared years ago.