Just for information purposes, I remember when I was flying around in my Bandit back in 1994, about a third of all the pilots who had a couple of years experience flying turboprops went off and paid for their own B757 or B737 type ratings. Most of them applied for and got jobs with the large IT airlines.
If there is anyone who set out to get their licence and didn't consider that once they had their licence that it would be a cut throat world out there, subject to market forces for the relaively few jobs that would become available on jet equipment, then they should seriously reconsider their prospects. The market will change and I believe that we are at the beginning of an upturn which will manifest itself when we see sponsorships being advertised once again.
Unless you live in some kind of communist era state where jobs are guaranteed for everyone irrespective of market forces then you are not going to see a utopia where all the airlines bosses go all mushy and decide that they will recruit loads of freshly licenced fATPL's and put them through type rating courses with reducing bonds over 3 years and a guarantee that there will be no lay-offs. If you want to get angry with anyone then blame Al Quaida and SARS for the present downturn in the market and the lack of jet jobs. Blaming the recruitment companies and those that offer type ratings for exploiting the situation is futile. We live in a capitalist society and that is the way the market operates.
I don't believe many of you out there who have a fATPL but no experience would turn down a type rating and six months of line experience (no bond beyond the 6 months) for little more than flight duty pay. Whilst it would be nice if all the airlines were offering sonsorships for cadets, that is not the case and anyway, those of you who went down the self improver route were not eligible for those cadetships anyway.
Be honest with yourselves. There are very few jet jobs available for newly licenced, low experience pilots. At the moment there are some opportunities for a select few who are able to raise the money and are prepared to pay for their own type rating. It is an extremely risky venture but for some it will pay off. No one is forcing anyone to pay for a rating. It is a choice and will be argued to death.
Those of you who claim that the quality of pilots who pay for their own rating must somehow be lower have very little idea of what is actually required and are probably unsure of your abilities and what will be required of you during and after a course. To blame others who are prepared to take the risk for the lack of opportunities available for you will not get you anywhere.
Once the demand for pilots goes up again, and I believe that it is swinging in that direction, you will find that those of you who waited patiently will get on that bottom rung of the ladder. Those that took the risk and were successful by paying for their own type rating will be that much further up that ladder. It's a choice. Just pity those who do pay for a type rating but are unable to gain employment as there will also be a few of them about too.
If you are going to invest any money in your future as a pilot then you could do much worse than pay to see if you have the qualities and psyche that will be expected of you in your planned future carreer. Unfortunately, for many who go to the expense of gaining a licence, they are quite shocked at how cut throat the real world is out there. Remember that the number of applicants for every job will outweigh vacancies by about 5 to 1 or more.
Just remember that no one is forcing anyone to pay for a type rating. By using that analogy anyone who was not an ab-initio cadet must have been 'forced' to pay for their fATPL... I don't think so.