Short haul rosters come in different shapes and sizes, one can bid for day trips, lates, earlies, destinations etc. There is also a notable difference between mainline and cityhopper. On paper both have the same scheduling rules (16/12 etc) but mainline seems to have a more effective bidding system (more successful bids)
In my experience (Capt.737, living half an hour driving from EHAM) the bidding system works fairly well; I'm in the bottom 20% of seniority in my function but get an average of 2 to 3 weekends off per month on average. (typically start Tuesday afternoon, end Friday afternoon/evening, sometimes a solid 4 day trip, sometimes day trips)
Day trips are not very popular so wouldn't be too difficult to get