San Expiry - why should the fact you fly fare paying passengers on a commercial basis necessarily put you at an advantage over someone who has essentially done the same job but for the MoD with the same constraints? Same job is it not?
There are very few FJ mates who could meet these hours criteria so I wouldn't be too disheartened. These guys may not have commercial experience but have proven handling ability, learning ability and flexibility so much so that some employers recognize the value of such, notwithstanding the obvious learning curve of operating multi-crew.
I fully agree that these days mil pilots are not inherently better than any civilian counterparts. However, Oceanic 815 is broadly correct in stating that the attainment of 3000 takes a mil pilot umpteen years,even those of us on heavies. My average annual total for the past few years is around the 400hrs mark including many months in a sandpit.
I dont think any current or ex mil would advocate we are better, because it certainly isnt true. We just bring a different skill set to the party and generally we are fairly content in being flexible and handling last minute changes because I guarantee you guys in the civilian sector have not been bu**ered about as much as some of us have! I dont know what I'm doing tomorrow never mind in one/two/three weeks time!