MFT1AIR,
Excellent points. I tend to agree. Without nastily engaging the other point of view and bring this down into a "P" contest, following their logic I would say the only ones who "don't" lower the bar are military trained pilots who start day one of flight school getting paid a commissioned officer (or warrant) salary.
About everyone else, must get the initial experience and their pay directly affects that. Does a flight instructor making $10-$20 an hour lower the bar lets say for someone who wants to be "a career instructor"? Is accepting 20K a year for reserve flying a regional jet lowering the bar?
I just sometimes think there is a lot of hypocrisy in this biz.
For the original poster, by all means you should be paid, but when negotiating your pay, take into account what that flight time is worth to you. And yes, you will be competing with guys that go to Eaglejet and buy king air sic time. If you dont need the experience, then by all means hold out for a captain position and the associated salary. I may not like my RJ FO pay, but at the end of the day until I have the experience to get to my "ultimate gig", I get paid in flight time.
Remember, a lot of employers who pay for a type (not required here) may get shafted when the pilot walks for greener pastures.