Seer, I believe they are only taking type rated people at the moment, as they have very limited training capacity. A 747 course would include about 14 sim details as well as ground school, whilst type rated pilots would only need 3 or 4 . I have heard that they plan to move the BA sim at the end of June, and it should be ready by August ( at Hurn ). As the supply of ex Virgin/ BA/ Cathay 747 pilots dries up,and IF more than the 20 crews are authorised by Mr Stoddart, they MAY take unrated people.
With all those hulls, flying some longhaul routes, they should be looking at 5 to 7 crews per aircraft unless the idea is to use some for spares etc.
Good luck, anyway.
Y