On behalf of my fellow Eagle Captains, before you apply for an airline job, please learn your craft as a pilot well. It takes 1000hrs in the right seat of any of our airplanes before a crewmember really knows what the hell they're doing (in THAT seat). In the meantime, said crewmember is a liability to everyone. I posit that not so long ago, when commuter airlines flew Jetstreams and Metroliners, - without autopilots - none of the current crop of 300hr wonders would ever have gotten through training. Those machines were much harder to fly (though they didn't require programing) and operated in the weather all the time. Programing does not a pilot make.
So, I advocate instructing until you're very good at it. Fly bank checks (until you're very good at it). Take the time to well learn every rung of the ladder. When you finally get to the herochair you'll know what you're doing.