He does have a point though: There are many jobs out there that require a Bachelor's degree and at least some experience, but pay less than $35k per year. Local government is notorious for this. I recently considered applying for a job as a criminal intelligence analyst at a local agency. I have 14 years' experience in a closely related field of law enforcement, I have all the certifications they are asking for plus some, and it's a job I would likely enjoy greatly. But the starting pay was barely more than I'm making now. Given all the variables, I'm better off staying here, at least for the time being.
Another example: Our regional victim-witness program, run by the state, requires a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and/or Sociology, and previous experience with courtroom work or social services. However, it starts at less than most of those social services or court clerk positions pay, and those jobs have much lower barriers to entry (basically, high school diploma and no criminal background). It's purely a "do it for the love of the job, not the money" kind of thing, and that would be fine except it's barely a living wage around here. Given that you're expected to be on call 24/7/365 on salary (i.e. no overtime/holiday compensation and no way to have a second, part time job), it's simply not financially viable for most people.
I recently got offered a sysadmin spot with a local agency by an acquaintance that had taken over their IT department. Fortunately, government jobs actually post their salary rates so I was able to decline before either of us wasted too much time.
They wanted someone to run the back end for an 18 county area, including supporting local offices. Starting pay? Between 26k and a starting cap of just over $30k/year.
Yeah, that's an absurd pay rate for that much responsibility. No one properly qualified would ever consider it, so they will end up with someone who has no clue how to do the job.
I had a similar "opportunity" come up last year. The county I grew up in needed to hire a new IT director, and as I had worked at the sheriff's office there for several years, I had a few friends still working for the county. One of them tipped me off about the job after they dropped my name in the bucket on my behalf, and it turned out they were looking at me specifically because they knew I had worked there before and got along well with the sheriff's office staff. The previous IT director "hated cops" and was never a good fit for government work, apparently.
I was interested until I found out the starting pay was just a little more than I make now, and I would basically be one of two people servicing the entire county, as well as being on call from over an hour away. Yes, it's a fairly rural county but it's a job for a full staff, not one or two people. The county could barely afford to offer the salary they posted as it was, so I declined.
Funny thing, and similar story to yours -- and the guy that offered it to me didn't know this -- but one of my very first jobs while I was still in school was with this same agency. He was kind of surprised that I knew the building and their location in it. :)
Another example: Our regional victim-witness program, run by the state, requires a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and/or Sociology, and previous experience with courtroom work or social services. However, it starts at less than most of those social services or court clerk positions pay, and those jobs have much lower barriers to entry (basically, high school diploma and no criminal background). It's purely a "do it for the love of the job, not the money" kind of thing, and that would be fine except it's barely a living wage around here. Given that you're expected to be on call 24/7/365 on salary (i.e. no overtime/holiday compensation and no way to have a second, part time job), it's simply not financially viable for most people.