Who told you they prefer "fast jet time" ? That is crock. Most of the guys I trained with and most of the other JFO are commercial background. Regional, Majors, and even GA. There was only a couple of military guys when I went through the ringer and only one had single engine jet time.
Please guys, stop asking if you are qualified with your particular experience. Just put the f-in application in and hope for the best. I'm sure you have all heard, Cathay hires a lot of guys even from GA-only backgrounds. So if you have time in RJs or anything non-GA and Part 121, I'm sure they will evaluate your app.
As far as how schedules work, you have no decision to make because they are assigned by the company. I much preffer it to bidding, but that probably is because I have so many days off that I don't really care when they fall. You also get 6 weeks vacation a year, that equates to a load of days. You do get 4 requests per year for a certain block of days off, I believe up to 5 in a row. I've used these twice and both times they were approved and I ended up with a minimum of 10 days off each time, even though I only asked for 5. Vacation is bid according to a point system. If you always bid for popular holidays like X-mass, then you use up your points and you won't get it next year. If you don't bid and let the company assign vacation, you keep points and can then bid for a popular slot and get it off. So you won't have to wait 10 years to hold a line and get decent vacation slots.