In reply to the 4th post in this thread.
No its not "sour grapes" at all just a realistic view of this industry. Remember most of us who currently are in either the right or left know how difficult that elusive first job is to get. I was searching for a position soon after Sept 11 so have the t shirt thanks!
Staying current is the first priority, how you do that is up to the individual, instructing is the usual way. That leads on to opportunities in the air taxi world when you have built hours and experience. Its not the only way to go about it but its the usual route to the right hand seat.
After 30 months on a turbo prop I start a jet rating next month, it took just over 5 years to get that "jet job". That in the majority of cases is the time it take to a shiny jet, sometimes less, sometimes more.