>>Remind me not to emigrate to Canada :-)
>>
>>A close friend of mine is an IT recruiter. She finds that your average, run-of-the-mill VFP position goes from high-30Ks to about 50K max. However, for every ten of those, there is one offer where extreme experience is required and the starting low point for those positions is about $75K.
>
>I had less than one year VFP experience when a local Air shipping company (I answered an ad in the paper) offered me 55K. I turned it down.
>
>You can raise your worth significantly having a broad base of knowledge in the software development arena.
>
>25K is an insult in anything but the smallest of towns in the US. Someone should tell that employer that he is offering below the unspoken minimum wage. Better yet, I hope he gets what he pays for.


As a bonafide resident of a 'smallest of towns in the US', I can confirm your opinion that $25k for a programming position IS an insult. Aurora is bulging at the seams at 6k people and we're the biggest town in 30 miles. For $25k I could walk around picking up aluminum cans (ok, well, almost)! Although the cost of living is next to nothing here, $25k is pitiful even for here.

- A Hilton