I think that says it right there.
If you're not willing to do 2 years in the HOPE of getting accepted, then you're in for a shock, a big one.
You will spend a long time and lots of money getting the 'ratings' and 'certificates', only to find that you can expect to spend years looking for that first job, or working grunt jobs, or instructing, hoping, year after year, for the opportunity that you seem to think will be easy to get.
Talk to your friend who has that company and see if he'll hire you with just a CPL? or what it would take for you to be qualified, and how long and how much that will take...