This sounds like a large reason we have employment problems in the US, and frankly it stinks of the "old scouts" in the book+movie "Moneyball". Engineers aren't

This sounds like a large reason we have employment problems in the US, and frankly it stinks of the "old scouts" in the book+movie "Moneyball". Engineers aren't known for their social networking and sales prowess. IMHO, engineers are among the most likely population to undervalue themselves in their early career. It's difficult and time-consuming to on-board and train a programmer / developer / software engineer, but every programmer needs to start somewhere. I consider myself lucky in that I worked my way through college as a web developer for companies in Silicon Valley. If I didn't have my social network of other local engineering students, I would probably have started my career around $70k-$80k. I suspect that programmers in extremely rural parts of the US (like Alabama, West Virginia, Wyoming) would be lucky to find $70k/year.