Kestrel99,
I trained with people that walked straight from ab-initio into a jet job interviews because their old man knew the chief pilot.
There is nothing more annoying than working your arse off, being good at what you do and seeing people who, for whatever reasons, are not up to even class average grades getting these opportunities over their harder-working and more gifted colleagues!
I wish i had a quid for every time I've heard people (including myself) say "I've got nowhere with them. How the hell did he get an interview?"
They still have to pass the interview, sim ride and type-rating, so ability will out.
I waited for 10 months for interview and was lucky enough to get in without having to get someone to put my CV in the right tray, and in the early days after leaving the school would have resisted using any contacts for the reasons of pride and principles. However, I can now see that all that proves is that you are willing to cut off your nose to spite your face.
I'm sorry to say I'd rather have jumped the queue to get a job than be unemployed.