Hourly Rate?
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I am a recently-certified SQL Server 2005 MCTS, with a bit of experience.
I have an opportunity to do some contract work, and wanted to know what other DBA consultants were charging, as an hourly rate.
Any input here would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Simon
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It depends on number of factors: where you are, years of experience, type of project, type of company, etc.
In New York for example 5-10 years experienced SQL Server DBA usually can get around $80/hour on corp-corp basis.
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Thanks, Mark.
I am working in Toronto, Canada, and appreciate your input.
-Simon
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Toronto should be a good number. It does depend somewhat on experience and how you sell yourself. If you can do the work, get what you can.
In Denver, I charge $100/hr for myself as a senior person, 8 hour minimum to come to your office. I have friends at firms that charge anywhere from $150-250/hr, they usually get less than half that personally.
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Thanks for your input, Steve. Although I am recently certified (MCTS, working on more), I only have about a year's experience with Sql Server. I have extensive consulting experience with Access, and other CRM db software, though.
So, I'm thinking the hourly rate shouold be somewhere between $60 and $80 per hour.
Can anyone working in Canada weigh-in on this?
Thanks,
-Simon
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I'm living a few hours north of you and I believe $60-$80/hr is a reasonable rate. I worked for a software consulting company and we were billed out at $60-$80. That was for junior-intermediate SQL Server people and junior-intermediate .NET people. After you get a little more experience, you could probably bump yourself up to $100 if you can get your clients to pay for it. When I build something for clients at work, my time is billed to them at $100/hr, but it is usually small things and very infrequent.
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Thanks, Ian, I appreciate the input.
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If I may intrude, coming from a person who has been a tech. recruiter for 15 years,
minneapolis a strong SQL DBA is in the range of $65 to $95 an hour. I deal with about 10 other cities daily. Rates and customers will vary depending on relationships.Also on how much the contract company is taking off the top. Varies from 10 to 100%.
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Plus overcharging as a new DBA for a first time project can lead to blacklisting. I started out at $30 an hour on my first project with a fixed time contract (but I was also brand new to the scene as well).
My bill rate intra-house thou is $127 an hour. However outside jobs I take I consider who I am working for and how much I am willing to as my average (not my high or low) and let the have some talk room, but it also helps on projects that take a little longer than agreed (few these days thou) as I don't feel cheated, but I am very strict on th Business Requirements before I begin any job. Did my last outside job at $50 an hour because it was for a friend of a friend.
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I agree that there are a lot of factors involved - especially experience, and the length of the contract. Nobody wants to be blacklisted, or bid themselves out of work. Maybe there should be a big RATE dice with a bunch of number ranges on it, and everyone gets one roll....
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I shouldn't give this away - but be careful of charging too little.
Years ago, when my spouse was building her business, she tried offering discounts to attract clients.
Then she realized - she's not selling used cars or beer. She's selling professional services to companies who want top notch work. The money spent on IT is to save them money elsewhere, or to improve their competitive advantage to make more money.
As soon as she set her rate to what she beleived her true worth to be, business picked up. But perhaps the greatest thing is that folks who want to nickel and dime you and don't understand the value (and cost) of good people are scared off - and you are spared the annoyance and frustration of such clients.
Of course you still need to know what rates are like in your market. Hopefully you differentiate yourself so that your actual rate isn't the
primary issue, it's that they want YOU.
Funny - once someone contacted her on a job she didn't have time for. She said "I can't do that for you for at least 6 months, but I've know someone who can do this and probably has time for it". The potential client didn't want the referal - if they had time to do it they weren't good enough (which is dumb - maybe they just started, after quitting 20 years on a salaried job. Maybe they just finished a HUGE project and are ready for something new. Maybe they are fairly junior, but the senior person making the referal knows the person's skills match the need....)
Roger L Reid
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I would echo what R L is saying. I came across it worded a little differently, and I have it experienced this under certain circumstances:
Charging less than appropriate, less than market value, or less than you usually do, usually will result in the client not "respecting your expertise".
I did contracting for a long time, and the companies I charged the LEAST to were the ones MOST likely to be a headache customer. The fact that I was "willing" to give them a discount seemed to be waving the red flag in front of the ol' bull: I was somehow "vulnerable", and they then had some leeway to make my existence miserable (question my hours/methods/try to treat me as an empl. etc.) Those companies I thought would be a pain and I quoted full tilt pricing to never gave me trouble.
Why would I give discounts in the first place? I was trying to do a good deed (I was doing a LOT of work in the not for profit world, in particular with food organizations). In the long run - it turned out to be a much more healthy relationship when I charged them full price, and gave them a donation once in a while, instead of a standing % off discount. Once I figured that out - everyone got full tilt pricing (and I "gave back" the same amount I was trying give them anyway).
If/when you're good at what you do, you need to:
- not appear to be the cheapest one on the block. You pay for quality after all, so if you're the cheapest, you CAN't be the cheapest.
- don't apologize for your hourly rate. EVER. you provide a service that's valuable, hard to do, and not easy to find (in any decent quality).
One interesting way to look at it was provided to me by one of those DIY consulting books (something along the lines of being self-employed for dummies): to find your hourly rate, start by charging the "going rate" in your area. If people start beating down your doors with work, raise your rate. Like that employer was implying in RL's story - if your customer starts to realize that you're heavily in demand, you become a commodity, and something they WANT.
Create (then continue to stoke) the need for your services.
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Your lack of planning does not constitute an emergency on my part...unless you're my manager...or a director and above...or a really loud-spoken end-user..All right - what was my emergency again? -
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Hi Steve,
The rates you posted look really great ! However I checked Dice.com for Denver area and what I've found was mostly $65-75/hour.
Or maybe Dice is not the best site ?
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Or then again, maybe Steve is above your average Joe DBA
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