In my newhire class, the majority of the newhires had 4500-6500 TT. There were three guys who had 8700+ and a handful of military guys with a little less than 3500 TT. There was only one guy with turboprop experience as his only turbine. The rest were all military, regional or flew "heavy corporate" aircraft like G-IV's etc. Most, if not all, had gone above and beyond at their prior job. They might have been an IP, instructor, check airman, IOE Captain etc. Either way, they did something above and beyond.
My advice - don't be afraid to come up the hard way and to put in your time. Don't take shortcuts but do what you can to get to that seniority number as fast as you can. Do what you can to create your own luck and network like crazy. Pick out the types of jobs that will work for you and then shoot for the top five companies in that type of aviation. Get out and knock on the doors if you can. Post on here and ask the questions you have. You're on the right path. Keep it up and the right job for you will open up.
NOTE: With the age 65 retirement issue now LAW - you can expect a slow down of hiring at the major levels. I doubt we see any large scale hiring in cargo for 2-3 years due to the over 60+ guys we have sitting in the FE seats. These guys will be re-absorbed into the "window seats" and then the three-man crew aircraft will be leaving the property after that. Thus, there will less seats to fill. The good news about cargo is that we're stable. Unless we go to war with China, I think cargo will be growing jobs in the next 2-5 years.
Another road block may be in front of you as well: Industry Consolidation. If the passenger carriers consolidate, this will raise ticket prices, create furloughs and delay your career progression for a long time to come. The airlines will have to hire back their furloughees before they can hire new people to fill the open spots. The industry consolidation will raise the ticket cost which, I believe, will create an even larger market for low cost carriers.
That is my .02 and I hope it helps
Last edited by bustinmins; 01-21-2008 at 12:01 PM.