What is the going rate of a programmer nowadays? whenever i look on the freelance sites im really disappointed to see people working for peanuts. this is the main reason why im happier to design websites for myself - I can make a lot more money doing this. im doing a course in multimedia and internet technology - which has a lot of emphasis on web design. the sad thing is that i probably know a lot more about php/mysql and web design in general based on the sites he provides us with. i probably wont learn much more about web design from the course, but rather the business and practices in the market. will my degree help me earn much more in web design? im not thinking of quitting the degree because i love the student lifestyle. i dont want to be working for the peanuts that people work for in freelance sites. are there any opportunities in large companies to become a full-time web designer and earn £25K+? or would it be easier to make money establishing a portfolio website and attracting large clients? i have some extremely wealthy business contacts (club owners, PR companies, etc.) who are asking me to design sites all the time. I've had to turn them down because I have too much work on my own sites, and also because of my uni course. What rates could I expect?
Depends on your skill set ..if you are a database drive developer ..you can make 50-80k a year in the states. To make the good money you have to be able to work the database at a level that can genrate reveue for any size company. An Example is a ..CRM sales app....simple forms..automate there current proccess..really very easy now days to get a real good foot hold in a small company and STAY there. Most all need the technology that a BIG company uses for cheap. So you have the power.. to do both just be true to what makes you happy.
I get $25 an hour which is pretty reasonable, plenty of hours in the day to make an honest living from that .....
how do you figure out the rate per hour? and furthermore how do you prove how many hours you have worked from what i see on freelance sites its a fixed fee... but i see bids for $500 on quite large projects.
I don't like freelance sites - you get underbid all the time & most people in the states/uk can't work for $200/week or sometimes much less. I've seen several ads for php programmers from India via my local craigslist for $850 US/month & That's full time 30+ hours/week. I'd say your better bet is to go local with a small business & get some refrences, build a name for yourself and get referrals. That way you can build credibility & be able to charge a fair rate that you can comfortably live off from. In the US I see ads all the time for programmers - and a lot of companies willing to pay 50,000 + a year, but these are for people with diverse coding talents. I used to work with a guy that was a contract programmer for some major websites, I think his rate was about $35/hour, but he was fluent in a lot of coding languages. I don't like the hourly pay rates, myself, though. The guy I worked with went to an office with a lot of other coders, but I don't think there's any way you can prove you worked x amount of hours if you work out of your home unless your client is standing over your sholder watching. I always take jobs on an per project basis - that way it's fair to both the client & the coder, in my opinion anyway.
If you can come up with ideas for websites yourself and then take them from concept to finished product I would be surprised if you could make more from freelance work than you could from working for yourself. In comparison I believe that relatively good money can be earned in programming for a company on a full-time basis. I believe regular data is provided on average salaries in programming broken down by US cities and programming language. I have the details in my rss reader but not being in the US I don't normally pay much attention.
The going rates will vary quite a bit. Some very high priced freelance programmers have great sales skills. IMO, for long-term success avoid charging excessive rates, but don't try to compete with 'Rent-a-Coder' either.
It's called honesty, and anyone can see for themselves how much work has been done at any time, it's fairer this way, it's not fair to charge someone $50 for something simple just because thier site depends on it, which is common practice it seems. Also, I find it easier to work this way, I don't wanna take someones money then wait around a few days before I even start, which is also common practice, I wanna say this is how many hours its gonna take, this is when I can find those hours, so we shud be done by ... And lastly I prefer this way because once someone has used you a few times, even if they know nothin about programming they will have an idea of what you can do in an hour, ensuring an even consistency and reliability of the service provided.
Like others have all said... it all depends. The best way to determine your rate is basically decide what you believe you are worth then find people that will pay that. As has been mentioned, don't even bother trying to compete with the rent-a-coder type people. There are always people willing to pay whatever price you ask, you just sometimes have to work harder to find people that are willing to pay that much. Personally, I'm lucky: Most of my work is C++ type work and I while I don't charge more than $100 / hour (and I know a number of people that do) I do have the luxury of doing better than most of the rates here by a fair margin. The good thing is that with those C++ rates I can charge the same amount for PHP work, too... It all depends on you, your ability, your knowledge, your market and so on...
you cannot compare freelance rates with US market value as most of the freelancers are from other countries where the US dollar have much spending power, so what seems like peanuts to you is good money for them. The key though is develop your skill set to a professional level and establish a good portfolio where clients are always impressed with your work. A happy client will be a repeat customer. I still manage to win projects on these freelancing sites even when i am bidding two or three times the average bid.
I totally agree. If the customer has confidence in your work, you will more often hear "bill me accordingly" rather than "give me an estimate"
Hope i don't upset you but working for yourself is the only way to go man. Getting a degree is only a piece of paper that gives you the right to get paid more money from your employeer, that you are making rich. If you have the skills and the talent to build your own projects/concepts from the ground up it would be hard to not be successful. I like to program but i don't like to program for someone else at a base pay. You can make alot of cash with your skill if you use it to your own advantage.
I use Joe , all the time, This dude rocks and his code is as tight as a.....well you get the idea..... If you need a guy that knows php he is the guy.....Trust me $25 an hour, I get alot done