paying to work
As a former new Cpl(H) albeit a few years ago now I know how hard it can be getting your first break into commercial flying.
I think that you should all take a hard look at the long term problems that will arise in an already underpaid industry if as suggested, you work for free or pay somebody to give you a job,( if you can call it a job when you are paying for it ).
If for instance a operator is using a pilot that has payed for the privledge of working for them, he then has a unfair advantage when bidding for work over and above another that is paying a fair wage to his pilots,you might not be worried about this now as the new pilot getting the hours but think of the future, it might be another story if you are expecting to make money out of your flying one day, which I can only assume is the plan.
There are no easy answers for getting the first job,but please don't stuff it up for the rest of us, you will be in this position one day and I guarantee you will feel the same way.
As for the student loan cpl's in NZ, I cannot see how they will be able to stay in the industry with the $100,000+ they owe to the government,unless wages in NZ have gone up a lot since I left.Anyway good luck.