What a load of ****e. There's no sim even used these days. The only reason it's over four days is that they couldn't fit the various exercises for 10 people into less time.
Everyone's quick to judge when a bunch of new F/Os don't make it through line training, but heaven forbid the company should try to do something proactive and work on the preselection.
All the guys I've talked to off the last round said they had a blast going up for a blat in the plane, and I think if most of us think back to that stage in our careers, we would have loved it too.
What about the poor Aussie pilots who not only have to fork out a few bucks to be at an interview, but pay for certain assessments, and of course $10K for a type rating.