Could paying for type ratings not take us down the US line of first officer programs where you pay not only for TR but also for 500+ hours RH seat with a company. I don't believe all should do flying the hard way but I sometimes find it depressing when pilots are so eager scrabble over each other. Should not the situation at Cathay show us if we are all happy to sell each other out, aviation will not continue to be the career it was{with exception of BA who's protection from BALPA should be a lesson for all of us}.
If no one brought TR from Ryan Air I believe they would start paying again rapidly. Would it not be ironic if the FO's who pay £20,000 for TR's were replaced by the next generation who could pay the company £10,000 per annum to fly.
Do take note of what was said above about keeping in contact with friends in aviation. With all my interviews mates in-house were asked for a reference. Best of luck to all, you do get there in the end and before I got a "proper job" I got great experiences flying in places from congo to the carribean.