Truthmaster
I was starting to wonder if all my fellow pilots were still lost in the old economy somewhere. But now a couple more have spoken up in support of getting your own type rating. It is still a gamble in this part of the world, yes.
I did not pay for my rating, I worked off a bond and am now bond free. But I don't sneer at those who have paid for their own type rating either.
Don't let scary words from anti-typers deter you - in every company there will always be the schoolyard bullies who will pick on you just because you are different. They are not the ones who hired you, they are merely people who feel insecure about your presence. They are the ones with the problem, not you. I have met such types myself in the airline I work for because, for example, I was a "college boy" and they weren't. They are, as are all bullies, of no consequence.