I always had the dream of being an airline pilot,
There is no such beast. The spectrum is as multi-coloured and iffy as a day old pizza special. It depends on who you work for and on what fleet. 90% of wannabes can not answer those questions when they take the expensive plunge into the unknown. I wonder how many realise that. I wonder how many realise how just how little 'piloting' is done nowadays? This idea that joining RYR as a starting point on the stairway to heaven is fraught with so much danger as to question the sanity of those who do it. Ask then at the beginning of their MPA course where they want & expect to be in 5 years time. The answers will fill astound you. Then check back in 5 years later. Madness. I know some who are still baggage handlers 5 years later; other who are busting a gut to escape the Irish lTD saga; others who are considering if they can resist the Chinese dollar offers and what it might mean. None of then thought these questions would be asked 5 years earlier. Their eyes were full of glamour.
Pilot is an over-used term in any case: see other topics on this discussion.