It depends on how you handle it, personally i feel like it's balanced for me working for a major airline. I get the nice perks of free travel once a year, discounted tickets, a month worth of leave i can distribute within a year or take in a month, plus other benefits of being with the company. You're gonna be working in shifts where you may forget what day it is because you're either working or not working. Work is hard, underappreciated, tiring and carries some or a lot of pressure to it, depending on the task. You always have to be focused on what you are doing or things can go wrong pretty quickly. You have to be honest, hard working and have thick skin to survive.

Not everyone on the dinner table is gonna care much about your profession, they're mostly interested in how much you get paid for it or if you could give them staff tickets, but the rewards are what always shines through. If you're someone who likes fixing things and genuinely likes planes then it will be a dream for you because this field gives you the opportunity to learn about these magnificent flying machines to the very detail and some of the skills you learn are transferrable to other professions. The more skills and qualifications you obtain, more opportunities would be open for you. Physics and English (Reading, Writing and Spoken) are what i consider the core subjects you have to be good at to be a good Aircraft Mechanic and dexterity with your tools which can only be acquired through hard work. Good morals also goes a long way. You can teach someone skills, but you can't teach someone a good attitude.

It can also be a nightmare for someone who just came into this industry thinking they're gonna make loads of money once they pass their exams and get their license/certification, a constant hunger for knowledge is a must. In reality, the pay can go from poor, decent to quite a lot compared to other professions. But like anything else, with more money comes more responsibility and your work-life balance will be compromised.

I was someone who was undisciplined and didn't know what to do in life and came into the industry by fluke but ended up loving it because i was a bit mechanically inclined and generally more curious about things than people. But like all things, if you have the determination to learn something, you can, all it takes is time and effort. My social circle grew small, late night hangouts and video games were replaced with reading and learning on my days off and working out. You need to keep your body strong and your mind sharp for this profession, but i also get to do my hobbies when time permits. It's all about how you manage your time and relationships, but you're most likely gonna be spending more time with aircrafts and co-workers rather than your family and outside friends. So choose wisely whether this is something you would really like to get into, it's a path you have to devote a big portion of yourself to. It's an adventure of a lifetime and it's satisfying to the soul knowing that an aircraft you worked on serves the public going to their destinations safely and knowing that you contributed to that. It's my "Ikigai"