Originally Posted by
NatGeo
If you have close to 3000 hours of total time than you should have at least 75 hours of actual instrument. If you do not have at least 75 hours of actual instrument recorded in your logbook(s) than you have been logging your instrument time way too conservative.
I spent a lot of years flying under powerlines in formation in high winds and a host of othher things, without a tenth of instrument time or night time, because one doesn't do either instrument or night with that kind of flying, with a couple of notable exceptions.
Simply because one has years and many thousands of hours doesn't mean one has been doing a particular kind of flying. The original poster is seeking to transition to flying that involves instrument and night, but is asking for counsel on how to get there.
As others have noted, experience is the secret sauce; gain enough in each area to qualify for what you're seeking. if it's 121 flying, then flesh out the ATP minimums. Due to evolving industry hiring conditions, more experience is beginning to be better; airlines are ceasing to hire at the bare minimums, again. There is still plenty of movent in the industry, however, from utility to corporate to charter, etc. I regularly see flight test positions advertised, too (you indicated you have that; nearly all require either a former military test school or the civilian test pilot school, and so forth, but some call for test experience, as an alternate).
Most seek the road most travelled, and that's where you'll find the most competition. I've long been an advocate for the road less travelled, and there one will find the more unique flying with far fewer squirrels to fight over the acorns. To each his own.