Yeah i know that in other parts of the world 2-3000hrs is normal, In Oz you can be flying crappy bug smashers with 5000hrs in hand and still get no where.
But i think the point of this thread is that it concerns the situation here in Europe, or even more specifically UK airlines. So 1000 hrs GA over here is a fair bit.
I too would probably favour a person that did it the hard way. But then your boss will say to you, we will take on X amount of non TR guys. The rest must be TR and focus on relatively low hrs on type so we can put them on a cadet (ie cheapo) salary. What will you do then. Your gonna have to do it. Nothing is black and white. Theres many shades of grey. And when you get into that position you seek, your gonna have to still satisfy those above you otherwise you wont be in that position long.
Regards