Training between 2007 to 2011. I have a job, it's fun but far from ideal.
My opinion on CTC vs. OAA handling skills is on the basis of pilots I've seen and confirmed by a few other instructors. I've discussed the quality of basic training and was truly shocked how terrible the Arizona training was at OAA I have no axe to grind with them, there are some excellent aspects of OAA but it's too big for its own good.
Not paying up front at all is wholly unrealistic, you end up cutting your own nose off to spite your face. You end up limiting your choice of schools and missing out on discounts, you just need to be sensible about how much and the method you pay.
As for the speedy of getting a job, I know quite a lot of aspiring pilots and of those that went integrated and are employable people with good results and first time IR passes have all secured jobs with easy, jet2 and Loganair faster than those that went modular I would say that currently the average improvement in time is about a year. I suspect that will change and I've paid almost half what they did including type rating but they are in much better paid jobs than I am.
as with everything in flying, there is no right answer just a compromise on what you want.