On induction into the Company, you are told what base and what fleet you will be posted to. You then do the induction courses learning about the company and how to stand and salute whenever anybody mentions 'Waterside', 'Robert Ayling' or 'allowances'. Then get Safety Equipment Procedures out of the way- leaping into liferafts in swimming baths and scaring children away (I do that anyway), firing extinguishers, donning smoke hoods and finding M & Ms in a smoky cabin. Then the high pressure technical course on the aeroplane- about 10 days learning systems followed by a licence exam, then simulators. I think there are about 16 for new entrants to learn the right way to operate a jet aeroplane and handle all the emergencies, engine out etc.. Then line flying for about 30 flights with a Training Captain and a fully qualified safety pilot learning the ropes. Eventually the 3rd pilot, the safety pilot is dispensed with and just the Training Captain needs to be satisfied that the trainee is ready to fly the line. Then that pilot is rostered with Captains who are not new on the aeroplane themselves. At this stage he should be a useful member of the community able to handle a lot of situations, but still gaining experience. It'll be 2 years before he is 100%- less on shorthaul flying because of the large number of flights they do there. Rosters will be about 6 days on/2 days off with occasionally 3 or 4 days off- usually 8-10 days off a month, with work days stretching anytime from 6 am to 10pm, length limited by number of flights. Longhaul pilots always have at least a day between flights as they usually involve night flights out and/or home and are more tiring. The social life is better and visiting new places fun- altogether a far better existence, but averaging about 3 or 4 flights a week, it takes longer to get cleared.
The simulators will take the best part of 4 weeks to get through I think with a tremendous amount of manuals to be read and sessions to prepare for.
Forget becoming a Captain- that will take years and years- you join the seniority list on joining and maintain your position as people fall off the top and retire. Some Captains get promoted on type- some bid to go to another type and become a Captain- usually involving a step down to a less convenient aeroplane to get an earlier promotion. That's called a conversion. Sometimes, pilots bid to convert to another type without promotion- more prestigious fleets like the 747 (God Bless Her). If they are really unlucky, they get the 777 which only has 2 engines (let's not go into that now). I didn't fly Concorde- too damn fast for me. I enjoy getting there.
All this is what I remember it used to be like. I'm not very up to date, and it's not a startling conversion piece in bars, so it may be different now. People are so relieved to get out of the induction/training process they don't really want to relive it unless you make them.