I think they are not serious, AT ALL.
Several friends of mine, flying the 777 as FO and cruise relief captian in a major company with at least 3 years of long haul experience and more than 6000 hrs total flight time went for the interview for CAPTAIN RELIEF position.....
during the interview they were even told that being cruise relief captain they should espect after 1 year to be upgraded to Cpt....
all went good, very good.... they passed the interview and they received the email with the offer for FO position!!!!
Of course they refused. I do not understand, if I apply for Capt relief why offer me a job as FO? If I do not perform well in the interview just tell me that i am not maybe ready to be relief captain or fail me, They should speak clear...I know many who got same treatment and apparently they are offering this position to captains coming from FR..
Furthermore, a friend of mine passed the interview as I said, so He replied to them asking why he was offered a FO position if all went good and He applied as Relief CPT....they did not reply for 3 days and then he received another e-mail stating they are sorry but he did not pass the assessment!!! Amazing! How can I trust a Company if they treat you in this way before joining the them!!!
Far from them!