Re: Pay rate for contractor with no experience

["Richard" <thepoet -at- thepoet -dot- com>]

Allow me to add my perspective on pay rates from the Denver metro area.
Inexperienced writers start out here at $10 per hour. Exp. writers earn
anywhere from $20-45 per hour depending upon:
1) The company they work for and how desperate they are.
2) Interviewing skills and how a TW sells him/herself to the employer.
3) Luck of the draw or perisitnce to run the gauntlet of resumes.

The problem in the Denver Metro area is that companies collect resumes when
they do not need TWs then run ads in the Denver Post, seek out every
recruiter they can find (and 'stiff' some on them on respective recruiting
fees)
In addition, some companies do not have Human Resource people who are
capable of making comparative wage studies. Interesting enough, the local
governments i.e. The City and County of Denver via their career service
division and others, compare wages for each position they fill. Yet others,
including many tech companies in the DTC area do not. Ergo, if a TW really
needs work they can find it at $20 per hour or they can try and squeeze past
the mob and land a job that pays rates comparable to other cities.
Furthermore, the practice of hiring interns from the local schools puts
downward pressure on wages. Lucent technologies will hire interns that would
fit the profile of the lady mentioned in this thread, to flesh out a staff
of TWs for a specific project, at almost zero pay, then perhaps hire her at
very low entry wages. Or run through the same process again, with Interns
and their limited staff or contract TWs.




----- Original Message -----
From: Kay Robart <kay -dot- robart -at- integratedconcepts -dot- com>
To: TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2000 8:04 AM
Subject: RE: Pay rate for contractor with no experience


> Well, I would guess it all depends on what part of the country you're in.
> I am probably behind the times on my rates. I know that my company
> pays $45-60/hr (depending on whether we're paying a commission) for
> experienced writers, but I haven't hired an inexperienced one. Back
> in 93 in Houston there were some places that were paying only $20/hr.
> for experienced writers (although the norm was $30). And I know some
> experienced writers now in Houston who are only getting $35.
>
> Kay Robart
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Jo Francis Byrd [SMTP:jbyrd -at- byrdwrites -dot- com]
> > Sent: Monday, February 14, 2000 8:30 PM
> > To: TECHWR-L
> > Cc: TECHWR-L
> > Subject: Re: Pay rate for contractor with no experience
> >
> > My first contract job back in '93 (and I had NO experience!) was
$25/hour.
> > In
> > this area, experienced (senior level) tech writers should get at a
minimum
> > $35/hour, and more likely $40. I'm in help development, and that puts me
a
> > little higher on the food chain, but I've had no problems getting my
> > requested
> > rate (which is higher than $40/hour, BTW).
> >
> > Jo Byrd
> >
> > "Seigler, Sherri A" wrote:
> >
> >
>
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