Totally agree to BelArg.
Did my JAA fATPL in 2001, exactly into the downturn. Landed 3 years later my first Job, but not in Europe. 4 years later, still flying outside of Europe and no idea, if I ever will be flying a JAA reg. Keeping my precious JAA current is headache and waste of money.
A FAA ticket would have worked out as well and could have saved big bucks for me..
But still lucky to have the JAA in addition to the FAA and local one where I fly, so keeping all doors open.
One thing to consider for Europeans:
There is no other place in the world then europe, where a Rookie can jump into the right seat of an airliner with less then 200 hrs TT...
If this is a good thing would be another topic..
Cheers