Get on with an airline that bases you close to home and has a decent contract and pay. As for the upgrade game: you need 1,000 hours of Part 121 to upgrade. No way around it. It will probably take you two years to get it, assuming you spend a good portion of your first year on reserve, which is the case at most places. I wouldn't put a lot of regard into who is doing a six month upgrade or a year upgrade, because unless you have the time coming in, you won't upgrade in that time frame.

Compass seems to be a good choice, same with Horizon and SkyWest. People are knocking on Horizon, but other than the first year pay, it is one of the better contracts out there. Their upgrade time is under three years from what I hear now. I think Compass is within a year (granted you have the 121 time) and SkyWest is hovering around four years. How the whole jet vs. Q400 seat lock works out at Horizon, it sounds like Air Group wants to get rid of the Q400s as quickly as possible, so I'd be surprised if the seat lock really stays intact for a long amount of time; if they need to pull FOs to staff the jet, they'll staff the jet regardless.