Two months until first interview and then held in holding pool for 3 months until started - on the Eaglejet A320 scheme. Then took one year of line flying to recoup the rating/"line training" costs (for line training, read one month of training then 3 months as regular line pilot.....)
If you can find the money for the rating and the line training, things can move very quickly indeed. And you can get straight on a 50-70 tonne jet.