Middle East
Hello agnni
First off, good luck in your career.
Second. In the present climate in the middle east and internationally as has been mentioned, there are virtually no entry level jobs. You may get lucky and find a job as an instructor but I would expect that the minimum for this would be around 1000 hours before your application might be considered and if there are any schools in the region recruiting.
For the major airlines expect a requirement of around 3500 hours with a heavy jet background and for the smaller operators you would be looking at around 1500 - 2000 hours with at least medium to heavy turbine experience. There are companies such as TNT in bahrain, Falcon Express Cargo in Dubai who might look at someone as a co-pilot with less but it would be a case of right place and right time.
On the helicopter side of the industry, 1500 - 2000 hours will be an average minimum for a co-pilot, with previous multi engine turbine experience, offshore and multi crew experience preferable. I have know some young low time pilots who have managed to be in the right place with around a 1000 hours and no multi or turbine time when a co-pilot was needed at short notice and have been given a break. They are among god's chosen few!
Where I operate we wouldn't look at anyone with less than 3500 hours which would have to include both single pilot and multi crew IFR experience, with ideally offshore, VIP and extensive airwork verifiable experience in your log book.
I know this sounds harsh and an almost unachievable goal when you are in the first phase of your career but this is the way it is. We all start with zero time, but it is a fact that it takes a long time to achieve sufficient experience both in developing your piloting skillls and building actual hours to become attractive to potential employers and to achieve this level of experience will mean many years of work.
There are also issues of insurance requirements both on the operators and client side which need to be observed which has an effect on the recruitment on low time pilots.
Instucting to gain experience: For those who look upon instructing as a means of hour and experience building, be aware that being a flying instructor is about more than your need to build hours. A flying instructor has an obligation to his or her students to mentor their development and invest in them the time and skills to achieve their goal of sucessfully becoming the holder of a pilots licence.
Anyone who instructs only to build time will find that both they and their student will suffer. There is nothing worse than an instructor who does not want to instruct and nothing worse for the student who has to suffer potentially poor instuction.
The reality of course is that most low time pilots will go down the instructor route to gain the hours they need.
There are many ways to the coveted left seat (or right in helicopters) but they all take time. Good luck again for the future.
AMCP