My 2 cents:
I used to be a hostie with Air2bob and I happen to have met on a trip one of the boyz in charge of selecting the pilots. I asked similar questions to yours 'coz my bro' is in your same situation (well, he's got his JAR, 1600 hours TT but no jet time... well, some A320 SIM time).
This is what my tiny brain recalls from our conversation:
A. Chances to be selected for a F/O job are very little, especially in this period, due to the nature of the charter business (busy summer, slow winter). Several medium range aircraft need to be sub-leased during the winter and pilots relocated overseas (Canadian contracts or 75% pay for 50% work).
B. Two cabin crew LGW based are actually pilots. One used to fly T-props for Olympic, the other has only few hours but a JAR. Both of them are lovely guys, very professional and a breath of fresh air to the airline! Although they both informed the Cabin Crew Manager of their situation, the responsible for pilots recruitment in Manchester (him) was never informed about these internal requests (in fact, it was my pleasure to put them in touch).
To my knowledge, none of these two guys have been offered a F/O position yet but they have been told they would be considered if an opportunity for a cadet was to arise. Fingers crossed guys!
C. Your chances to get a F/O position by becoming a cabin crew first are, to his/my opinion, very slim. You'd be better off trying to fly regional for a few years, building up your hours and gaining FLYING experience instead of customer service (C.C. training might be seen as valuable considering the need for more CRM but the customer service aspect is not really needed as a pilot and badly remunerated anyway - crap for crap, fly front!).
D. If you were that keen on the CC job anyway... then a better option would be to choose a small company (flying 737's, 320's,...) where you can build a rapport with management. BUT DON'T PAY FOR YOU TYPE-RATING UNLESS YOU'RE GUARANTEED A CONTRACT!! Too many have done that...
(Close experience)
If you ever get there, remember me on turnaround: "Tea, white, no sugar. Thanks Tiram!"
Please people out there, help this poor chap! Show the F/D we are nice too!
FJ