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Subject:Re: Hourly rates for contractors From:Chuck Martin <cmartin -at- SEEKERSOFT -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 4 Sep 1997 12:20:26 -0700
My informal review of rates suggests that the hourly number for contracting
approximates the annual number, in thousands, of salaries, at least for (a)
quality people and (b) companies that know the value of technical
communicators.
For example, if companies are paying $40-50,000 for a staff writer with
certain skill sets, then a contractor with similar skill sets should be
able to charge $40-50 per hour.
Unfortunately, highly skilled technical communicators (those who do more
than just quality writing, but also design good user interfaces, set up and
perform usability tests on both product and documentation, understand
programming and development processes, and manage documentation
development) still get neither the recognition nor the compensation they
deserve, compensation that should approach that of the code jockeys.
<Soapbox off>
At 11:37 AM 9/4/97 -0700, you wrote:
>Hi,
>
>I am sure this topic has been discussed before, so I apologize in
>advance for the repeat question.
>
>For some time now, I have been trying to locate a source that lists the
>going hourly rate (or range of rates) for contract technical writers in
>the Silicon Valley area/SF Bay Area. If anyone knows of a good
>resource/web site for this kind of info, I would love to know it. Also,
>if there are any contractors in the Silicon Valley area/SF Bay Area who
>would be willing to share their hourly rates (or range of rates), I'd
>appreciate that too. I would just like to verify that what I am charging
>is market.
>
>Thanks,
>Edie Quiroz
>
--
"You don't look American"
"Everyone looks American, because Americans are from everywhere"
- Doonesbury
Chuck Martin
Technical Writer, Seeker Software, Inc | Personal
cmartin -at- seekersoft -dot- com | writer -at- grin -dot- net
www.seekersoft.com | www.grin.net/~writer
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