Hi,
Well... I've done a combination of most routes... CAP509 followed by unemployment followed by FIC followed by a 737 type rating.
I passed my initial IR 5years ago.. so the wait has been a long one.. 5 months... well..I'd say that it would be pretty fortunate to get a job within 5months of passing your initial IR.
With regards to the FIC rating.... you say you only have 152 hrs? I think you need a minimum total time of 200hrs with 100PIC before you can do your FIC course... so you'll need to factor in the extra 48hrs. (I'm not 100% sure that what I've said is right, so make sure you get definitive advice from an FIC instructor).
I found the FIC course to be the best and most enjoyable course of them all, you're flying skills will improve enormously and you'll find that after a couple of hundred hours instructing, you'll feel very confident with most situations that flying a SEP aircraft and with a student can throw at you.
The big downside to the FIC rating and instructing in general, is thats its very very hard to make ends meet, unles you can get a really good deal where you get a decent retainer and a good hourly rate, its hardly worth doing it full time. You'll do almost as much flying if you just instructed weekends...you could easily do over 250-300hrs a year just from weekends.
The upside to instructing, is you will build experience quickly (and dont listen to the multitude of people who say you shiuldnt instruct as a means to build hours.. you can do that, and still be a highly professional dedicated instructor), it will make a difference at sim checks, and your cv will look much better with 1000hrs rather than 152.
You will also make contacts.
Also right now, there is something of a developing mild shortage of instructors, especially unrestricted ones.
I got to 1200 hrs total, and having missed to on a couple of oppurtunites by failing sim checks, mainly due to being out of instrument flying practice (Ryanair and CTC), I ended up more or less having to make the choice of giving up flying, or going for it getting a TR. I opted for the TR, on a scheme which is suppsed to place you with an airline at the end (and they placed everyone in 2004 as far as I know).
if you're going to do a TR, I would strongly recommend some line training too.
I try not to get drawn on arguments about paying for a TR, but one way or another, most TR's are paid for upfront, or you get a reduced salary etc. yes there are airlines that will pay, and if you can get in with one of those, good for you. I'll just be jealous!
The thing is, that you need something to stand out from the crowd, there are a lot of F/ATPL's with less than 500hrs out there.... getting an FIC rating, 1000hrs and a Type-rating and some experience will make you stand out.
There are almost always more pilots than jobs, and the whole thing has become even more mercenary and cut-throat than it ever has been, for every pilot that will fly for x amount, someone will do it for less.. and so on.
Its the same even with instructing, pay rates differ enormously (from £10ph to £25ph) with or without retainers
Why do Ryanair pay 9k basic salary to new F/O's? cause they can!! (they do pay good rates of flight pay though, and this is not a Ryanair bashing attempt!)
Its supply and demand, until the supply of pilots reduce a little, salaries will not go up, but I believe that things usually go full circle and eventually things will get better, but they'll probably get worse first.
I dont have any regrets about doing the FIC or the TR, doing the TR has got me closer to an airline job than I've ever been before (I have literally just finished base training) and I expect to get into an airline this year.
Sorry that this turned into such a ramble, at the end of the day you just have to weight up the options, try to view it as objectively as possible and make a choice based on real info and not speculation.
LP