Here is my issue with this~ If you've been offered a position no doubt you've passed an interview which included a demo flight where you demonstrated that you have the ability to be an effective instructor.

You've already been trained as a CFI and a government official certified that you spent countless hours and thousands of dollars doing so. Sierra isn't providing you any additional training or certification but rather hiring an employee. I recognize that there is a cost involved to them to standardize you but that exists in every profession.

Without instructors they can't get contracts and train students. They have no other option than to hire you or another CFI. They can't hire bus drivers, cooks or rocket scientists to fill your role. You of course want flight hours but you don't entirely need them when everyday there are many other places seeking out your skills. You have a choice whereas they do not.

It costs them nowhere near $1200 for standz and seems more like a number pulled out of a hat. Others have said the process was about an hour. Even at five hours it's still less than half. So basically its a windfall to them and a financial penalty to you. What do you get out of it except a job? Theres no SIC type, no promise of something in return. Is it prorated? What if you have a family emergency or become ill/lose your medical? What if the week after you start they announce a huge pay decrease? How will you handle your finances if they don't have a student for you or the ones that you do have are grounded because their airline hasn't paid? Will you be forced to sit for 3 weeks without pay, unable to make decisions about your future?

Its designed to prevent you from leaving. Why would they think you're going to be a hit and run CFI? You invested in interviewing with them, your experience level is such that it's reasonable to think you'll stay for 700-1000 hours and depending on how far you're relocating from it's obviously not cheap to move back and forth across the county after just a few months. Would you really go through all that just to "cheat" them out of a few SE hours?

There may be a reason to ensure you don't leave abruptly and if you look you'll find out why. I gained alot of hours at Sierra but there was a cost and as absurd as it sounds, Moonwolf wasn't the only person who basically worked for free with a student. I finished a student on a contract that paid a lump sum after the checkride when I was informed I would only be paid hourly from the last stage check..the difference being over $1300. Because the first payments for completing stages were very small it worked out to about $6 per flight hour.

No one will fault you for choosing to teach for them but everyone wins when pilots at all levels make informed decisions about their career.