I have all that is required by means of licenses and ratings but no hours to match.
Well go out and get some hours!
you start in aviation your a small fish in a big pond.
I tend to disagree, aviation is a relatively small pond. I've seen people's careers set back by pissing off people during training and their first employer. After that life was very hard for them. The industry is small, people talk and know each other all over the country.
I just hope that we never get to the stage of the US. Sadly there are plenty of guys around who 'just want to fly'. Forgetting that in doing so they make it all that much harder to get that high paying job later in their careers as it won't be around anymore.