Question though: When you mention the "considerable extra expense" that I may face, are you talking about the type rating, or is there something else that I haven't heard of yet? I've come to terms with the fact that I will probably have to pay for my own type rating, unless by some amazing luck I end up with someone like BA who tend to pay for the type rating (or so I hear?).
Yes! our cadets (and a few others) have their type ratings paid for by the airline. If we offer an employment contract (as we would always hope to) at the end of the placement period, then the type rating is included by way of a diminishing short term bond. The pilot would only need to repay a sliding proportion of those costs if they chose to break the contract within that specified time period. If no contract is offered or the placement is discontinued then we eat the training costs as part of the deal. However other airlines have very different arrangements. Some charge an up front contribution to training costs, which may vary in scope from a contributory sum, to the full cost of that training.
In addition, a pilots licence is a very perishable commodity. There is a need to keep current. There are medicals and ratings that have to be renewed. In placement or employment, many of these costs are simply absorbed into the day to day emoluments of the job. For somebody sitting in a holding pool, or biding their time in another job, they are hard costs that fall squarely on their shoulders. To give you a real example of this, I have seen two people from the same training course who by fate of timing got offered exactly the same placement. One got taken on as soon as they completed their training course. One got taken on from a "holding pool" 12 months later. The first has had their ratings and renewals paid for as part of their placement/employment. The first has 800 hours airline experience. The first has had their medicals paid for. The first has a full time employment contract. The second has had to pay for two medical renewals. The second has had to arrange for their own rating renewals in order to maintain their currency. Similarly, they have had to arrange flying and simulator time to maintain their own proficiency. Whatever help they may also have been afforded by the FTO, they have also had to deal with the repayment schedules on their borrowing without the advantage of that first rung on the career ladder for the last 12 months. The first cadet will now be on a broad brush gross salary of around £45k now, rising by about 30% within the next 4 months. The second cadet will have to wait and see what the lie of the land is in another 6 months time.
This is at the good end of the market. As others will be quick to point out, there are plenty of "opportunities" on far less friendly terms, and with far greater associated risk.