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Subject:Web development rates From:"Jessica N. Lange" <jlange -at- OEE -dot- com> To:"TechWR-L" <TECHWR-L -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 2 Nov 1999 16:57:10 -0500
Ron Sering Asks:
> I'm trying to get a sense of where hourly rates for Web development stands
> relative to rates for "traditional" tech writing, i.e. manual production,
> help development. Are they comparable, or does Web development fetch a
> higher fee?
And Tom Murrell Replied:
>I'm told that Web Developers only command about 60% of
what a Senior Technical Writer can get
Which led me to wonder:
What does a Web developer do? This job description has changed radically
over the years. Time was, the WebDev did everything. These days, that "job"
is a team: programmer, scripter, graphic artist*, writer, database expert,
hardware (server) people, and lots more. The pay scale among all these
people probably varies just the way it does when their job descriptions do
not have the word "web" in it.
*And BTW, a web artist had better know web graphics, animation, Flash,
Shockwave, Multimedia, music, video, maybe virtual reality (someday) etc etc
Anyone can call themselves a Web developer...and *Everyone* can (and does)
create web pages these days: it is just too easy. A recent news-story on NPR
about science & technology in American middle schools talked about what they
were learning: using the Internet and developing their own web pages.
And I bet you a Coke that the first question a company would ask a
prospective web developer is "can you give me e-commerce on my web site"!
My $0.02
----------------------------------------------------
Jessica N. Lange mailto:jlange -at- oee -dot- com
Technical Communicator, Ohio Electronic Engravers, Inc.
