HOPE!?! That never-ending well of ignorance and stupidity.
Mark C, if that's what you took away from those replies, there is no HOPE for you. Just join up and get miserable with the rest of us, but you won't be able to claim you were not warned. Looks like the world's economy is headed back into the chamber pot, so your timing might be just right.
Sounds like you fly the A320. If so, I bet that A350 SO job is looking quite juicy. Yep, we call that SJS or shiny jet syndrome. It's the same one that probably got you into your current circumstances. Don't worry though, CX will totally ignore your experience and have you "fly" freighters to ANC for the next four years. If that doesn't piss you off, all the DEFOs (direct entry FOs) who skip the line ahead of you in the USA are surely going to. Happy trails...