Originally Posted by
SalehA
how does the airline choose the better candidate if they have similar flight time and experience?
They don't. "The better candidate" is an altruistic way of looking at it; life isn't that wholesome or just. If you meet the minimums and there's a slot and it appears your warm body matches what's needed, you may get the call, or you may not, depending on how many others applies, and what their qualifications are. You may be perfectly qualified, but competitive minimums aren't about what the company requires, they're about everyone else that applied.
If the company minimums are 1,500 hours and you apply at the minimums, and everyone else has 10,000 hours, you may not be competitive. Then again, if the company is cheap, wants inexperience so you'll stick around, they may choose the low experience pilot over the higher time guys. If you've got a solid work history vs. changing jobs every six months, they may look at you more favorably; it really depends on the nature of the company, and how you fit, and where you fall in the application stack.
Despite what you may have heard about an industry pilot shortage, desirable employers have twenty thousand applications for every position that opens, and have no trouble filling them. Get qualified, get competitive, put in your application, roll the dice. You rolls the dice, you takes the chance...