I was very very lucky. I got a place on the first course at the College of Air Training at Hamble where we did all the flying training for our licences and more.
From there I went straight into BOAC. I then did two years on Britannia 312s navigating to get a Flight Navigators Licence, followed by a course onto VC10s in 1964.
All paid for by BOAC. How lucky can you get?