Hey there,
Well in the past EI have had a mixture of guys from those just about to finish flt training to those with type ratings low hours and those with type rating high hours I do know of 2 guys that were in Oxford, EI came over & Oxford recommended a few & 2 guys were subsequently chosen. Another guy was chosen with a TR hardly any hours... I can go on giving examples.(On last years recruitment with EI...I did see the head of Oxford Training and another guy incharge of marketing getting out of a taxi & heading into the sim block of EI, where they said to the security guy that they 'had a meeting scheduled with the Cheif Pilot' & I later found out that the meeting was to see how many they could put forward for selection with EI).
I know for a fact that EI used to like to chose a cross section as it they felt that 'Some guys from already with other airlines may have picked yp bad habits' so thats why the cross section...they could have the option of bringing guys straight on line with a few hours line training & then groom the less experienced guys to fit the EI mould.
Regarding this one guy that I've already spoken of he's only got 200hrs and just out of flight training no type rating etc. So yes it seems EI have already called guys for selection & wheather these guys know 'the right people' I have no idea. I just wish Good luck to everyone & if anyones decent enough to post a report about the interview I'd be very appreciative. They've been lucky enough to be selected for interview so posting something online is not going to impinge on their being put forward for the sim (might even be good Karma!!!
) but it would give the rest of us a insight...