"Chance and timing has more to do with this industry then anything......."

Yeah, not that there is anything wrong with that. It's a crapshoot just like many careers.

After 9/11 the hits on the legacy contracts made Fedex and UPS top dawg by default. In the old days, legacy guys laughed at SWA for their inferior contracts. Not laughing now, for the most part...

It's just impossible to predict an outcome at the beginning of a flying career. If you want guarantees of a high dollar job, perhaps it would be wise to steer clear of aviation for something else. Love to hear what the "else's" turn out to be, though.