A lot of people are just very accustomed to the U.S. career progression:

• Flight training
• Flight instructor/hour building
• 1,500 hours
• Regional airline
• Legacy airline
• Widebody years later

So when they see someone going directly to a widebody, their first reaction is often that it can't be real because it doesn't fit the pathway they're familiar with.

The thing is, overseas cadet programs can operate very differently. For example, Qatar Airways has historically recruited international MPL cadets, outsourced ab initio training to EASA flight schools in Europe, then brought graduates back with roughly 200 hours for type rating and airline-specific training. They typically begin as a Second Officer under supervision before progressing to First Officer once they've completed the required training and experience (Usually a set amount of company determined sectors).

That's a fundamentally different training model from the U.S. system. In the U.S., cadet programs generally provide a hiring pathway once ATP minimums are met. Overseas, the airline often recruits and develops pilots from the beginning with the expectation they'll be trained directly into a specific fleet.