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>I have the opportunity to work on a TW contract in Canada (I am Canadian)
>but have never done contract work before. I'd be grateful if anyone
>could tell me
>1) what are the going contract rates? Is there a difference between
>charging on an hourly basis vs on a weekly basis?
How much you get paid depend a lot on where you are geographically, your
experience and the client's (perceived) need. My suggestion would be to
check out the job boards on various Canadian STC-chapter web sites to get an
idea what people are paying. The Toronto chapter (www.stctoronto.com)
maintains a job board that's just for contract work. Of course, YMMV...
>2) what things should I watch out for--such as who should pay for what,
>for example?
Watch out for agencies who don't (a) care about you as a person and/or (b)
thoroughly understand what the client wants (e.g. can't tell you whether the
client's main documentation thrust is print/online/HTML/all of the above).
Check the archives for more on this - this topic's come up a few times in
the last couple of months I've been on the list.