[Baypiggies] How do you calculate your hourly wage?

[William Deegan]

All,

I'll concur on the don't take project based payments.
Clients rarely can be specific enough and not change requirements to make a
good estimate possible.
You don't want to end up working for $10/hr in the end.

-Bill

On Mon, Feb 9, 2009 at 6:18 PM, Delbert Franz <ddf at iqdotdt.com> wrote:

> On Monday 09 February 2009, Stephen Cattaneo wrote:
> > Hi friends,
> >
> > I've only had one professional position since college.  I was paid
> salary.
> > My company recently downsized 40% of the company (myself included).  I'm
> > looking for new work.
> >
> > I'm open to contract jobs, but they want to know how much I charge
> hourly.
> > I'd assume they do not cover things like 401k/dental/medical for such a
> > position;  I'd like to take these things into consideration when talking
> > wages.
> >
> > Do you guys use this formula (or something similar) and if so, what value
> do
> > you use for your modifier?
> >
> > hourlySalary = yearlySalary /  52 * 40  # 52 weeks in a year, 40 hours in
> a
> > week
> > benefits = hourlySalary * benefitsModifier
> > totalHourlyWage = hourlySalary + benefits
> >
> > I was thinking something between 5% and 15% -- Does this seem reasonable
> in
> > your experience?
>
> Hi all,
>
> I have been working in consulting in Civil Engineering since 1970 and
> yes, to survive one has to charge an hourly rate that at first seems
> way too high but after years of experience it is not.  Being able
> to bill out more than 50-65 percent of the time comes rarely.
> There are endless things needing to be done that no one can be
> asked to pay as a direct charge to their project.  Currently I
> am charging $120/hour, which I need to raise to $140 to $160/hour
> on my next contracts.  A rule of thumb to use is to take your
> desired hourly rate, the one you would be paid if you were
> employed somewhere (do not include benefits) and multiply
> by 2.5 to 3.0.  (To put this in perspective, the rates I
> charge, are less than that charged by junior-level attorneys:-)
> Typical rates for an attorney with the experience I have in
> my field would be $500 to $1200/hour--perhaps we picked the
> wrong field:-) )
>
> Another option, if the task seems well defined and you are confident
> in your ability to complete it, is to seek a lump sum, but many
> clients do not like it.  I rarely get such arrangements, but in
> many cases I would prefer them.  Tally up the total for the project
> and then specify what is delivered and that is that--no hourly charging
> etc, but then you have to get the work done for that amount and deliver
> what you promised!  The risk for loss is greater, but if done well, the
> risk for larger margins is greater as well.
>
> Hope this helps.
>
>                Delbert
>
>
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