I have read through this thread and it says it all. I have finalized my flighttraining 3.5 years ago now and my 1000hrs (800hrs ME MP) have as yet not brought me far. I fully recognize the frustration of 200hrs ab initio pilots being hired ahead of me, just because they attended the "right" flightschool....
Also I was 25 was I finished training and realized that my CV didn't look like much if I was going to sit an wait for that airline job. Right now, I worked my way up to a ground ops instructor job with a 747 freighter company. It does two things for me. It makes me financially independend from that pilot job and it gave me loads of experience and a very short time. CRM is not only valid in the cockpit...... I can tell that the way you have to communicate during instruction poses quite a few challenges.
Anyway, I am still working on the cockpit job. I guess we are like pitbulls, once we sink out teeth in it, we don't let go....
Good luck to all of you!