One of the most amazing programmers I've ever worked with was Vadim Zeitlin, a core contributor to the wxWidgets project and resident of Paris. We hired him to port Quake 2 to run on top of the wxWidgets, and it took him 3.5 days. His work helped save a multi-million dollar project. Now, his daily rate wasn't cheap, but we were delighted to pay it.
If you want to earn more than average, here are some suggestions:
1) Contribute heavily to an open source project, preferably one used by people with lots of money. This demonstrates your talent and drive more clearly than a few interview questions.
2) Learn how to market your skills and how to negotiate. For the former, study patio11's career. For the latter, try reading "Getting to Yes" from the Harvard Negotiation Project.
Thanks.
I am creating a component-based GUI lib right now which is written in pure Javascript and which is all painted on a HTML5 Canvas. (it is intended as a Flash/Flex killer) (5200 lines is ready currently) I've implemented all the styling, dynamic layout and painting from scratch. I will open source it, so even if it will not be successful as a startup, I hope at least it will be good to convince clients/employers that I can design/program nontrivial things.
If you want to earn more than average, here are some suggestions:
1) Contribute heavily to an open source project, preferably one used by people with lots of money. This demonstrates your talent and drive more clearly than a few interview questions.
2) Learn how to market your skills and how to negotiate. For the former, study patio11's career. For the latter, try reading "Getting to Yes" from the Harvard Negotiation Project.