Could it be that the pilots you know were, in fact, interviewed this year (2009)? That might make sense to me.
But if they were interviewed at the end of 2008 like most of the DECs, then it does not add up as V also offered positions to pilots interviewed late 2008 and who held substantially lower qualifications than what you mention. Some took them up on it but many did not.
All the pilots who were offered positions late last year have already accepted them, to my knowledge. The instructors and check captains were interviewed quite a lot earlier than that and were already employed by the end of last year when the recruiting team went out on the job.