I am surprised to hear about the rotary world job market being bouyant. I work for one of the major UK onshore players and although we are recruiting, the company generally go for people who can get an IR easily. The military package is good for that, however the police market is dead and buried at this time, corporate talk the talk but the punters are hanging on to their money at the moment. Shawbury is laying off instructors and the offshore market is 'steady' but hardly begging for pilots. Overseas contracts are avaiable, but what a c@@p lifestyle. Rotary pilots wanting airlines are getting jobs, but the companies are insisting on large cash sums for the conversion and no pay until line checks are done. That can take months. A helicopter pilot I know, has 737 experience and contacted ###2 Airlines about their recent ad for ex-mil pilots. They were not interested because he was already rated and they wanted the upfront money for conversion. It wasn't the military experience they wanted, it was the gratuity payment!!
I am happy after 7 years on the outside, my old job 'disappeared' last year and I was lucky to find a new one locally, my wages are just now reaching my military levels and quality of life is much better. However, be aware that things are not quite as rosy as some people make out, job security is not secure, just be careful out here!!!!