Eagle will probably need a few more drivers as CX, Airnz & Mt Cook are all interveiwing pilots from eagle over the the next month. looks like xmas will come early for some of the troops.
Sim ride is probably a good idea as when I used to train at eagle it was amazing the number of pilots who we had to teach how to fly IFR, some were missing at lot of basic skills. eg, distances around arc's, how to correct for drift on app's & in holds, planning profiles, how to scan.
I guess it's because in a lot of cases they are being taught by inexperinced IFR instrutors who haven't had any practical operational experience. If you are going to do an Instrument rating go somewhere where they know there stuff.
Eagle fly into a lot of places where it's NDB app's only so you need to be sharp on the basics.