Guess I'm just waay old school, but there will always be nepotism and good ol' boys clubs and squadron buddies. And once in a while a 90-day wonder who no one will ever trust because his or her ability to GET a job far exceeds his ability to PERFORM one. My advise to all would-be professional pilots is to take the time and effort to become really good at each rung of the ladder. It's not enough for you to just get a CFI...instruct long enough to get really good at it. I know someone who expressed his desire to spend BIG BUCKS at some fancypants school to get checked out in the right seat of a King Air. I asked him why he'd want to squander so much for training to be a non required crewmember...a King Air is a single pilot airplane! Never mind the king air and instruct until you have 135 multi minimums, get a navajo or 400 series cessna job...and once again get really good at it.
When you finally get in to the Hero Chair of that shiny jet you'll have the chops to be there. Sorry I'll get off my soap box, now.