Dan 98,
Congrats on your recent employment. I don't by any means think you have written a boring essay, but an extremely informative example of what it takes to get that 1st job after modular training.
My situation was similar. However, foolishly hedged my bets on one airline(thank god it paid off) and after probaly p*ssing the ops guys off no end got the interview I needed. The rest is history, 500hrs TP 1000 TT and growing.
Listen carefully to Dan 98, invaluble information!
Cheers
DB
