The evidence I can offer can only be based on that which I have, so yes it must be specific to those companies that I have worked for. However you have also had answers from other people with their own specific evidence and examples from other companies. They are presumably different companies although the examples seem broadly similar and the comment is pretty much the same. Do you have a specific company in mind, or a set of responses that you want to hear?
I don't believe that simulator training is a means to an end in itself.
Oh but it is! So many things we experience in the simulator cannot safely, practically or economically be reproduced outside of that environment, yet they are so critical to the safety and/or regularity of the operation that their simulation
must be the means to an end.
The point I am making is that however good someone is in the simulator, given the real life situation, if they have not got experience to fall back on they may not cope well.
As already stated, the simulator is very often the only experience that pilots will likely encounter of specific situations. Simulation (whatever the shortcomings and limitations) often tests people to an extent that performance in that environment is far more demanding than they are ever likely to experience in day to day operations. Over the last Three decades and more, I have seen many people who are perfectly competent and relaxed on the line, who completely fall apart in the simulator. I have never seen the reversal of that situation. Those that are particularly good in the simulator (with all the stresses that are inherent with that environment,) are usually very good on the line, problems or no problems.
If they fit the bill and pass the assessment should a Cadet go directly into the left seat with no experience?
Rhetorical, because it doesn't happen. Cadets are junior first officers. The progression is from cadet to a regular first officer, and only when they meet the time
and performance criteria, do they then get
consideration for promotion. We set that time floor at around 4000 hours, although those first officers who consistently demonstrate a high level of ability
may be considered with 500 hours less than that. For a newly recruited first officer with 4000 hours they might be considered straight away, however the seniority queue would generally preclude that. An
ab-initio cadet with 200 hours would require around 18-24 months before they lost the cadet status and became regular first officers, and somewhere in the region of 5-6 years in the right hand seat before they could be
considered for further promotion. Even so I must again emphasise the point that being at the head of the queue is
not sufficient qualification for promotion.
Other companies may well have requirements that differ from these, however broadly I would expect the requirements to be similar for aircraft of a similar size and complexity.
I don't know of any airline that considers cadets for promotion to captains. Perhaps you could offer some evidence of that, if it exists?