[ale] Current contract market rates for LAMP programmers

[hbbs at attbi.com]

I've seen help desk tech ads claiming $10/hr.  A USPS City Carrier Grade 1
(i.e., newbie mailman) makes $16.08/hr.  A seven-year mailman is making $20/hr
and has job security a Web jockey can't even smell, much less touch.

So, ask yourself:  is your two or four years of vo-tech or college, two years of
LAMP, and five years of Web development is worth the same as a seven-year mailman?

- Jeff
> The subcontractor vs. indie contractor rate depends on whether or not you
> found the opportunity for the prime contractor and whether you're paid
> on a W-2 or 1099 basis.
> 
> It doesn't surprise me that $10 is a low, given the number of CS students
> willing to work for that amount (and it obviously beats min. wage gotten
> at your typical fast-food joint).  $20 for the high-end seems a bit low;
> $25 is probably more like it.  It is possible to get higher rates than
> that, but only if you also have other niche skills such as ERP and OLAP or
> you have a deep knowledge of the client/employer's industry vertical.
> 
> In other words, if LAMP is all you're expected to know coming in, you're
> most likely fighting a commodity market.
> 
> For comparison, last year I talked with someone in the Atlanta area about
> a $15/hr. internship to develop software in C++.  And a quick search on
> Monster.com reveals a few LAMP fulltime gigs in DC that max out at $50K.
> 
> Good luck.
> 
> On Wed, Mar 26, 2003 at 08:31:25AM -0500, Greg wrote:
> > Does anyone know what the current market range of rates for programmers
> > doing contract work with 2 years of LAMP (Linux/Apache/MySQL/PHP) experience
> > and about 5 years of web development overall would be ?  Someone told me it
> > is $10/hr to $20/hr and I find that really really low.    I would like
> > anyone's opinion of both the independent contractor rate and what a
> > contractor would get if they were a subcontractor.
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