Re: contract-to-hire pricing

["J. Ressler" <jressler -at- ewa-denver -dot- com>]

Just to add even more legitimacy to Donna's great example, I really had 
to fight for my salary when converting from contracting. My employer 
wanted to do the old "We'll just add 2 zeros to your hourly rate" and 
call it done.

I had to prove what the current market rate was, but I didn't limit 
myself to just tech writers. I looked up the different descriptions, and 
found documentation specialist. The DS description yielded a higher 
salary. I through in a sprinkling of IT work and experience and came up 
with a number. I chose to use the rate for a Senior Documentation 
Specialist, hoping for the rate of a documentation specialist.

My boss took the number, 25,000 higher than my original offer, and said 
'I don't quite think you are a senior documentation specialist', and 
reduced the number by 5k.

I took the offer, and said that while I might not be a senior 
documentation specialist, I have the responsibilities of one.

Later, after the refusal (by the employer) of education benefits because 
of the GI Bill, I asked for a raise. It was promptly denied. I also made 
no use of their medical insurance, and their 401k matching is not 
stellar by any means.  The benefits of becoming an employee were quickly 
diminishing. While I had no choice, you might. Research their policies 
and all that might apply to you. I wish I had done a more thorough job.

Just my situation, and my two cents (which I might want to hang on to)

justin


Jones, Donna wrote: