I posted on this topic in another thread, but the gist of it is that intensivist pay and schedule is highly variable. There is a low and and a high end for starting intensivists who are IM trained, and do not hold down a pulmonary practice.
But the general idea is that large academic institutions pay the lowest, and start you at roughly
~$200,000, +/- $20,000 as a clinical instructor. Some jobs are pure salary, and some offer productivity bonuses. The highest paying jobs are private groups where your pay is linked to your productivity and you can easily earn in the 300's if not higher. There are private jobs that are pure salary, and pay you per shift. Most private jobs ask for at least 14 shifts a month. I have seen shift pay range from $1400 to 2000.
The advantage to private or HMO jobs over academic is that when you are off you are off. Academic jobs will require you to fufill additional obligations in addition to your clinical work. If you are interested in research or graduate education, you can ask any academic faculty how extraordinarily difficult it is to obtain support from your leadership when you haven't yet secured any grants.
Many jobs I interviewed for were not pure 7 on and 7 off. The schedule largely depends what the partners decide is fair. If you have a group that is a mix of PCCM and CCM, this can be quite complicated, as PCCM physicians will often also maintain a pulmonary and/or sleep practice. There are private jobs that specifically will not let you do week on/off blocks due to concerns of fatigue and burn out. Some schedules are pure 12hrs day or night. Some groups require you to do a number of "swing" or half shifts. Some are 10 hrs in the day, and home call through the next morning.
There are a lot of considerations to think about than just the salary. Some jobs offer excellent benefits and retirement, these tend to pay in the middle salaray range. The ones that don't offer many benefits tended to have the higher starting salaries, but no retirement, limited health coverage, and no 401K.
Everyone has their own ideal job. You have to decide if you want to still take care of super high acuity patients at major referral centers, or if you prefer a lower acuity hospital. Some jobs are heavily tilted toward CTICU and SICU care, others will be exclusively MICU. You have to decide if you still want to work with house staff and/or physician extenders, or if you prefer to work on your own. But most importantly, you have to like the people you work with, especially your partners. I would say that this is one of the most important components of a good job. Working with people you dislike will only add to your unhappiness, its important to get a feel of what your partners are like. And it is ok to visit a job site multiple times to get an idea of what its like working there.