Very succinctly put Scroggs, that's perhaps the best summing up of the situation I have seen/heard to date.
Gnirren - I'm sorry to hear about your lack of employment, its people like yourself who are getting screwed over by those who pay for their ratings. I wish you good luck.
Thebeast - perhaps you should reserve your judgement on Jonty's comments until you have enough experience to make such a judgement. I agree with what he says - looking back on myself as a new low-time (but not paying for a rating) FO, I knew f**k-all and would have been a serious liability had anything gone badly wrong.