There seems to be a perception today that people are owed a job because of the effort they have put in. Many times in the 70/80/90s we have had crisis that meant newly trained pilots had to sit on the sidelines for many years waiting their opportunity. In fact it was arguably worse because of the large number of military pilots joining the market. In the early 90s there were far more trained & experienced pilots on the market then there are now, and many of us had to be creative & patient. Nowadays experienced pilots are in a worse position than TYROs as there are many who are willing to sell their soul. I find it unbelievable that those people now who are struggling to get a job and want to short circuit the system (which is an indictment of buy today, and worry about paying for it tomorrow), now expect those people who have done their penance and were patient to risk their hard won job. (whilst their T & Cs are being attacked because of the new source of cheap labour.)
To answer the OPs question, my advice would be to get into an airline job that puts you close to the action & where you can make good contacts. (especially those turboprop airlines which in the past have taken on their own guys into the RHS.) Good Luck!