A few tips on finding a job (135) in Alaska.
1. Jobs for "low time" pilots are still available. The best place to begin looking is Bethel, in the "beautiful" Yukon Kuskokwim delta. The average minimums are @1000-1500 of single engine PIC, and a commercial/instrument. Some outfits will take pilots with less time(@700 hours, IF the pilot has flown a good portion of that time in Alaska. Different companies have different requirements based on their accident record and therefore their insurance company. One outfit will take out of state low time pilots and employ them as a CFI for their affiliated flight school, and then transition them to part 135 once they have accumulated a satisfactory amount of Alaska time.
2. Bush flying jobs have their plusses and minuses. The Location sucks. The money is GREAT.I know C-172 drivers who make more than an RJ pilot I know. The time off is good. Most companies have a four week on, two week off or 20 day on/10 day off pilot rotation for bush based pilots. Pilots in Anchorage, Fairbanks or Juneau are stuck there.
3. All the companies are different. Some have better equipment than others, some push pilots into weather, some are poorly managed. One company that is currently looking for pilots just gave all it's pilots (some have been there for years) a big pay cut! (Why do ya think they're looking so hard?)
4. A note for displaced 121 drivers:
Alaskan 135 ain't 121. You will probably have to load the airplane. You will put fuel in it. You will unload it. You will get cold and dirty. Some companies avoid hiring ex-121 guys altogether, as they have seen 121 types come up here (with the I'm a JET PILOT mentality) and whine about how hard it is. It ain't exactly like mucking out horse stables, but nobody will be bringing you coffee either, Captain. :0)
The moral: If you want to work up here, come up,look around, and talk to pilots with different outfits. Companies up here prefer a face to a resume, because if they see the face, they know you're already here, as opposed to some guy who "maybe could be up in a couple of weeks." Even if you ask around down in the lower 48 (states), you'll probably know somebody that knows somebody who works up here.
Hope this helps.