The way it works here.. when they are hiring, (At the moment they are not)... is a company may advertise that they are hiring captains, but even the non union companies are senority based. They will hire you as a FO knowing that they do not have enough FOs that are qualified to move to the left seat. When the next bid opens up, and none of the other FOs have the qualifications, then you can be offered a Captain seat if you meet the requirements. Some regional airlines were offering Captain seats to pilots as soon as they finished the training.... not the case anymore.