Great reply from RVR800 and I would like to add to some of what they have said.
I would be very careful to believe everything you hear, because I have found that you are often told what you want to hear. I went to Oxford and worked very hard, had the time of my life and got good results. When I started the course in 2002 at the age of 27, (and handed over £53,604) I was told two things:
1. "You're coming into the industry at the right time. The airlines are set to start recruiting again next year when you qualify." Well, how can you say this about such a volatile industry?
2. "You are the perfect age because airlines like people with some work experience behind them". How come then, when I left at the age of 28, I was advised by the careers guy to hide my age in my CV! The only three people off my course who are flying for airlines are all under the age of 23, recommended by Oxford! I was made to feel very old.
We were told many times that there is a large amount of people looking for work representing the quantity but, as Oxford graduates, we will represent the quality and be best placed to find a job. Hmmm. This is just wrong and an example of them telling us what we wanted to hear.
After sitting at home unemployed for nearly 6 months, spending my days sending out CVs and visiting airfields looking for work, I decided to change my tactics. I looked for any work in the airline industry. I wanted something on my CV to show the experience I would be gaining. I was about to start working as a baggage handler when I got a different job working in Ground Operations for an airline. I have thoroughly enjoyed working in Ops and my knowledge of the industry is 100 times what it was before. I have recently been successful in an assessment to fly for them from the New Year - which is brilliant news and I am very happy! Apart from the flying job I have secured, I have gained an amazing amount of knowledge and awareness about the airline and how it works, with insight into operational decisions and crewing problems.
WRT RVR800's point about foreign pilots, I would say the biggest shock to me when I started working in the industry and for my airline was just how many foreign pilots there are working for UK airlines, mostly from Scandanavia. This is a big obstacle to all those newly qualified UK pilots who send their CVs to EZY and others.
I have also been shocked at how regularly crew shortages occur and how a whole flight has to be subbed-out to another airline because a Captain cannot be found for cover. It seems that airlines work with the fewest number of crew possible sometimes but you can hardly blame them for that. There may be worries from airline pilots about pilot shortages because they are the ones having to take up the strain, but it is the accountants of the airline that have the ultimate say on pilot numbers.
I do honestly believe though, that an upturn is on the way it;s got to be!!