It's very obvious what they do. Ideally they want type rated people, but they of course don't want to be 'short' of crew, so I guess they will put people through a type rating if they have to. With that in mind they don't stop NTR applying, but keep them on the back burner unless they are absolutely necessary. What I don't understand is, how these few NTR people mentioned above have been offered a job, without the rest of us either being told you didn't pass the application stage or having had a 'shot' at the interview for the job ourselves.
In any other walk of life, a job is advertised and everyone who applies gets a yes come to interview or no thanks. You never get a "we've got what we need now, but are holding your application on file!"