I'm trying to arm myself with some information as I'm headed into a new phase of my career. I was previously working full-time as a software engineer, and roughly know how much to expect there. I've decided to pursue contract work for the next while, and I have heard that their rates are higher for various reasons.
So, in the interest of being more informed in the process, I thought I'd ask HN what kind of rates are reasonable for contract software positions.
For a little more background, I was making close to $110k/year as a full-time software engineer out of Utah. When I first discussed salary targets with a potential employer, I mentioned $50/hour, since this sounded comparable. However, after getting the idea into my head that I might be low balling myself, I told the next recruiter I was shooting for $65/hour. Without much of a pause, they mentioned that would be just fine for the contract position they had in mind.
So, should I expect to ask for a higher rate with contract work? Just curious to get some feedback from any other contract software engineers in the HN community.
So, in the interest of being more informed in the process, I thought I'd ask HN what kind of rates are reasonable for contract software positions.
For a little more background, I was making close to $110k/year as a full-time software engineer out of Utah. When I first discussed salary targets with a potential employer, I mentioned $50/hour, since this sounded comparable. However, after getting the idea into my head that I might be low balling myself, I told the next recruiter I was shooting for $65/hour. Without much of a pause, they mentioned that would be just fine for the contract position they had in mind.
So, should I expect to ask for a higher rate with contract work? Just curious to get some feedback from any other contract software engineers in the HN community.