On Thu, Jun 19, 2008 at 11:44 AM, Paul G. Allen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I'm wondering what the current average hourly rate is for Linux contractors > in San Diego county is. This would be for system setup and configuration and > network design and implementation. (That last part may be thought of as a > network engineer.) >
I usually charge $100 per hour for my own contracts, unless the customer prefers a flat rate, in which case I calulate the number of hours I think the job will take and mutiply by $150 per hour. I used to have different rates for different things, but I find it easier to quote a single rate, and then adjust the number of hours I charge for. This way, if I wind up researching something or getting bogged down due to a slow network connection, I can just adjust the billable time depending on the circumstances. I usually invoice the total time and then list time I don't charge for as a rebate, discount or some such. When it comes to working for contracts obtained by recruiting companies, like ManPower, or EastRidge Infotech, I don't take less than $40/hr. These types rarely do flat fee. I have also learned that it helps to ask if they know how many man-hours have been allocated for the job. If they're talking about a six-month contract and have only budgeted 200 hours, this usually means that the client has a flat-rate type job that they are quoting an hourly rate for and are planning to cancel the contract as soon as the work is done. Robert Donovan -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
