Yes but in the UK 500hrs is quite a lot comparatively. There are no instructor jobs available. As an illustration the UK's largest school has put all Instructors on notice for redundancy - amongst them a range of highly experienced and qualified professional instructors...
The upturn in recruitment is coming. I reckon 2 years from now the airlines will be scratching around a bit and low time will no longer be a problem as it wasn't pre Sept 11th.
In the meantime its tricky to know what to do with your new CPL. There are very few Air Taxi type positions, the large airlines don't need staff and the low costs are seeking either an Unfrozen ATPL, Boeing 737 experience or membership of a particular school on the continent and a wheelbarrow full of cash...
The trick is not to get rusty. Preferably this is done by graduating at the time that things are picking up for low time guys. Otherwise its connections, flexibility and the ability to work for very very little. Perhaps returning to a previous profession and using the money to keep curency is the only viable option for many. Heartbreaking as that move is.
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