To get to the right seat as a First Officer you need a Frozen ATPL (Air Transport Pilot's License) which consists of a PPL ME/IR (Private Pilot's License with a Instrument rating, allowing you to fly in poor weather conditions essentially, and a night rating allowing you to fly at night, along with 150 hours of flying on the PPL).
Then you need a Multi-Engine rating, allowing you to fly twin props etc.
After that, you need the CPL ME/IR (Commercial Pilot's license with instrument and night rating, which will be flying a light twin prop such as the PA34 Seneca or Beech baron).
Then you need to complete the ATPL theory exams and complete a MCC, or Multi Crew Co-operation course (for working with crew members efficiently) and Jet orientation course (JOC). Finally you need a type rating to fly a specific aircraft in line service.
To summarize fairly basically, you need.
PPL ME/IR
CPL ME/IR
ATPL Theory
MCC + JOC
Type rating
After completing the whole course you don't receive an ATPL license, but the combination of licenses is a 'Frozen' ATPL. To become a Captain in the left seat you need to have the ATPL 'unfrozen' by having 1,500 hours flight time, which is gained through flying in line service, and usually the company will give you the option of upgrading to Captain if the position is available.
To get the frozen ATPL you need to go through a flight training organization (FTO), for example, Oxford Aviation, FTE Jerez or CTC (these are just a few examples).
In order to get on an fATPL course the FTO will usually put you through a series of assessments, usually an aptitude test, hand-eye co-ordination, and teamwork exercises etc. This is to see if you can pass the course the school will put you through.
For an fATPL you need to be at least 18 years old, and to unfreeze the ATPL you need to be 21.
The course usually lasts about 18 months.
Funding for an fATPL course is very expensive, anywhere from £60,000 to in excess of £100,000, and funding will have to generated yourself, unless you can find a sponsorship program where an airline funds all or part of the costs. However, since 911 the number of sponsorship programs has dropped drastically.
The qualifications you need to start the fATPL course are usually 5 GCSE's A*-C, but they are dependent on the training provider and are not industry specific. For example, to join some sponsorship programs you need 7 GCSE's A*-C with at least 3 A-levels BBC.
This is just a basic summary really and things might be slightly different, however you do need an fATPL from an FTO. Take a look at Oxford Aviation's APP first Officer course
http://www.oaa.com/p...e_structure.php
Once you've got an fATPL you can apply to a First Officer position within an airline.
Though I'd be of help!