The owner I fly for does not need to hire anyone, he has over 15k hours in his log books. He only agreed to meet with and give me a shot based on the recommendation of another pilot who used to fly there. I am not a rich guy by any means, I work for GE full time during the week and fly as much as he wants me to during the weekend.
Maybe its just the area I live in but jumper pilots don't get paid for this job. In fact an odd question came up during my check ride. I had not even mentioned that I was probably going this route and the DE asked me "why the FAA requires a jumper pilot to have a comm ticket and not just a pvt, even though you are not paid for your services?" A: The FAA considers the hours you earn compensation.