I have not met one senior first officer that did not "prepare" for the upgrade interview. Myself included. Some had very tight time contraints- from learning the new aircraft to assessment and interview. Most of the senior fo's have been flying for the company for six years and the company should know the command capabilities of the fo's by now. Instead they hired 6 DECs on the Embraer ... solves the problem of getting left seat guys and keeps guys with experience in the right seat (hire left seat DECs for less than our Capts and have experience in the RHS without using the training resources that we are lacking). This kicks the **** out of morale when the hiring market is statirng to picking up. They might have to drop the captain minimums to keep guys around.