I was lucky enough to get an interview. and the recruiter said one is an SO for seven years and hardly gets to fly the plane at al wxcept the sims. but living in hong kong with the pay they have is pretty much the same as being a 2nd year fo at a regional here in the States.
But its a good career move coz you will /might become an FO faster and then its all better.

And last I checked for the SO program they were only hiring HK permanent residents.