Let me lay this out......

I came up in Military aviation... then flew two stints over many years with 121 carriers.... and now I fly for a 91/135 outfit with citations.....

My current company hired me with NO citation time, and typed me.....most of our pilots had NO citation time when they came here.

But it seems more and more of the jobs I see posted over the last year or two require specific type ratings with XXXX number hours etc....you get the point. With fewer and fewer jobs willing to train guys it seems many doors for those looking for work are already shut before they can knock on it. I am not a big fan of guys buying type ratings either, but I can easily see where a guy could be in a situation where he CAN NOT move a job is available but he doesnt have the "right" type rating. You have to think that many companies who want to hire typed pilots do so because they have been burned in the past.. hire a guy.. type him...only to have him leave 6 months later. And with some types being very expensive I can see the problem. From the labor standpoint people will say ... well if they treated their people better they wouldnt leave....YES and NO, is my answer to that. I DONT have the answer. The bottom line is that it seems more and more companies are looking for typed with experience to hire vs. hiring that 7000 hour pilot and sending them to initial. What is the brain trust though here on "training contracts"..... as in the employer pays for the training, but you the employee agree to work for a set amount of time so that in the least.... the company can resonably feel they have recouped their investment. I am not sure there are any 100% right or wrong answers here. Thoughts?