Ask Dr. LJ: What's my rate?

[prog]

OK, so Origins happened, and this that and the other, and Volity's investment trail, while still warm, has yet to reach a conclusion. I am now even broker than I was the last time I said I was broke - I am no longer frequenting cafés coz I have lost the ability to pay for things in cash - and since there is no salary for me in the foreseeable[1] future I'm going to pick up where I left off three weeks ago and look for short-term part-time contract work.

I've cruised jobs.perl.org and got a half-dozen applications ready to go, and my question is: knowing what y'all know about me - basically, I am a super-expert at whateverthehell these people want me to do regarding Perl and databases and websites - what should I be asking for? Is $125/hr too much? (too little?)

[1] While it is true that, things being what they are for us, "the foreseeable future" describes a time period about 50 hours long, the fact remains that the particular such slice I refer to here has no paycheck for me in it.

Comments

rates

[taskboy3000.livejournal.com]

$75-$125 is the ball park. Don't go lower than that.

[rikchik.livejournal.com]

Haven't consulted in a while, but 125 for expert work sounds reasonable to me.

[keimel.livejournal.com]

IMHO, it can depend on the job. If you mark yourself as a $125/hr type, you can go down from there. It's really hard to go up. You'll also need to keep good time as to how you're doing on their projects.

$125 will certainly attract a certain customer though. It will weed out a lot of people who won't know what they want. It will tell people that they should expect quality work from you and that they won't have to tell you everything they want to the nth degree.

Having written the books you have is a plus to your rate. Mentioning that you're in the US may be helpful too. I noticed the last time I perused the contracting sites that a vast number of the contractors were "we can design anything... " or "we can program anything at a great rate" type places - which you certainly are not like (in marketing, you may be able to DO any of that stuff, but that's not what you're looking for or marketing as, yes?)

Oh, and you've been Mr. 10-99 often enough that nobody has to remind you about Mr. IRS coming and knocking on the door.

I think you're in the right ball park with enough room that you can help 'deal' with people if they offer a bigger contract to you. Heck, going from $125 to $110 is easy for you for a 20 hour job, but it might just be the extra kick their budget side needs to hire you.

Good luck with it!

[prog.livejournal.com]

My books and articles are on the resume, as is the fact that I'm currently the head of a startup that is doing all this crazy stuff. I think both make me fairly attractive.

I changed my "objective" line to a completely frank statement that I'm looking to pick up small, interesting jobs until such a time as I can write my own paychecks, and this segues into the first entry in the "Experience" section, all about me being Mr. go-getter entrepreneur.

The five or six applications I'm making were culled out of all the telecommuting jobs now at jobs.perl.org, several of which looked way too time-intensive or hairy for me to consider. My favorite of the scaries is this one. Yeah dude, good luck with that.

[radtea.livejournal.com]

$125/hr doesn't seem high, especially for short-term contracts. My current rates are in the same ballpark, for similar levels of expertise in C++ algorithm and custom application development, and I don't even have any book credits, so you shouldn't be shy about asking for that much.