Off-the-shelf type ratings can work for a low-time candidate if they can fly properly in the first place. An example are the RAAF Challenger pilots who do a type-rating described as drinking from a fire hose with about 200 hours in their log-book – but punch well above their weight. Much of their line-training is flying an empty aircraft (plenty of circuits, visual approaches and IAPs), generally resulting in a pretty capable pilot, certainly not totally reliant on automatics to fly safely. In fact if the automatics fail, they are more likely to say. "Yahoo", not "Oh hell".
The problem with the off-the-shelf ratings is they are designed with optimistic assumptions about a candidates ability, resulting in a minimalist course to stay competitive with other providers in a race to the bottom. Unless they have a particularly good training Captain and an enlightened flight department, the line-training simply reinforces using automatics exclusively. In the future, the good training Captains will retire and be replaced with iCadets resulting in a kind of "Plesantville" training department – and in the case of Air France – giving the world a couple of pilots that can't fly a basic power and attitude to stay upright while the computers have a hiccup.