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Old 12-18-2012, 08:39 PM
 
Location: Murrieta California
3,038 posts, read 4,758,267 times
Reputation: 2314

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Quote:
Originally Posted by luau View Post
Holy ****! Almost half a mil a year contracting? Please tell me how you did that and how I can do the same, here is a related thread: Any technical consultants here?
My rate was $140 /hr and I worked a lot of hours. I typically worked 65-70 hours a week but I did take a week off now and then.

As I said,my skill set of real-time embedded software was in very heavy demand as it still is except I am now retired. I had some special skills to go along with it. My philosophy was to only take on projects where I could learn some new skills.

Until I got established, I used Dice to find work and I also was a member of the Software Contractor's Guild "SCG". A lot of clients contacted me after finding me on the "SCG"

Dice.com - Job Search for Technology Professionals

Software Contractors' Guild; jobs and resumes for Software Contractors.
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Old 12-18-2012, 08:42 PM
 
Location: Murrieta California
3,038 posts, read 4,758,267 times
Reputation: 2314
Quote:
Originally Posted by luau View Post
The key is the dual incomes, which creates the 250k a year. 250k a year with 2 kids in Silicon Valley will be fine, just maybe not in SF. Leave behind that Brewster's Millions lifestyle, be sensible with your dough, and you all should make out well
I think $250K would be pretty good in San Francisco as well. The COL isn't much different between San Jose and San Francisco.
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Old 12-18-2012, 08:59 PM
 
224 posts, read 452,947 times
Reputation: 130
Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnSoCal View Post
My rate was $140 /hr and I worked a lot of hours. I typically worked 65-70 hours a week but I did take a week off now and then.

As I said,my skill set of real-time embedded software was in very heavy demand as it still is except I am now retired. I had some special skills to go along with it. My philosophy was to only take on projects where I could learn some new skills.

Until I got established, I used Dice to find work and I also was a member of the Software Contractor's Guild "SCG". A lot of clients contacted me after finding me on the "SCG"

Dice.com - Job Search for Technology Professionals

Software Contractors' Guild; jobs and resumes for Software Contractors.
Word. So you're just retired now and counting your paper? That's G lol. 65-70 hrs a week is pretty crazy though, the most I've ever done is like 60. I hope I can make some connections, put in work, collect checks, and stab out in my 40s too like you(I'm assuming you're in your 40s) before the tech bubble bursts.

Thing is though, I like the fulltime thing cuz of insurance and a little bit more security. I want to find gigs, is that easy to find with SCG? And about how much paper would I earn doing this ****(gigs/projects) over weekends/vacation? Thanks.
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Old 12-18-2012, 09:19 PM
 
Location: Murrieta California
3,038 posts, read 4,758,267 times
Reputation: 2314
Quote:
Originally Posted by luau View Post
Word. So you're just retired now and counting your paper? That's G lol. 65-70 hrs a week is pretty crazy though, the most I've ever done is like 60. I hope I can make some connections, put in work, collect checks, and stab out in my 40s too like you(I'm assuming you're in your 40s) before the tech bubble bursts.

Thing is though, I like the fulltime thing cuz of insurance and a little bit more security. I want to find gigs, is that easy to find with SCG? And about how much paper would I earn doing this ****(gigs/projects) over weekends/vacation? Thanks.
No, I am a lot older than 40. At the end of 2001 when I finished the contract I just mentioned, I told my wife that the gravy train was over due to the tech bubble bursting. I had planned on it so was ready to retire if necessary. However, I got a call from Sandia National Labs in Livermore in February 2002 offering me a very lucrative contract. They found me through the SCG. I took the job and it was great. Earned a lot of money and they were great folks to work with. Then I got more jobs in 2003-2006 so I was never hurt by the tech bubble bursting though many of my friends were. It was very enjoyable from 2002-2006 because I didn't need to work financially but did it because I enjoyed the work. I still keep in contact with the business as I enjoy it and still get offers for jobs even after telling them that I was retired.

Finding gigs and how much they pay is dependent on the demand for your specific skill set. I can't answer that as I don't know what the demand is for your skills. All you can do is put yourself out there in as many places as you can like the SCG, Linkedin, etc., and see what you get.
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Old 12-18-2012, 11:21 PM
 
Location: SF Bay Area
802 posts, read 2,260,880 times
Reputation: 257
Quote:
Originally Posted by luau View Post
Holy ****! Almost half a mil a year contracting? Please tell me how you did that and how I can do the same, here is a related thread: Any technical consultants here?
If you have the right skill set in a high-demand area, you can make lots of money. Back when I was a developer (~10 years ago), I worked on a very specific, mission-critical module in an enterprise software suite. Very few (probably < 20) people had the level of expertise that I had in this particular module, so my company was billing my time (they farmed me out for a few customer gigs) at $325/hour, even though I was only a mid-level developer. One of the third-party consultants who I worked with on one of these gigs wanted to hire me at a rate far higher than my salary at the time, but I wasn't that interested in becoming a road warrior.

If I were independent, I doubt that I'd be able to bill at that rate, but I'm pretty sure that I would have had takers if I were to bill, say, at $200/hr, due to my specific knowledge of a mission-critical piece of software.
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Old 12-19-2012, 07:16 AM
 
224 posts, read 452,947 times
Reputation: 130
Quote:
Originally Posted by mdwstrnkid View Post
If you have the right skill set in a high-demand area, you can make lots of money. Back when I was a developer (~10 years ago), I worked on a very specific, mission-critical module in an enterprise software suite. Very few (probably < 20) people had the level of expertise that I had in this particular module, so my company was billing my time (they farmed me out for a few customer gigs) at $325/hour, even though I was only a mid-level developer. One of the third-party consultants who I worked with on one of these gigs wanted to hire me at a rate far higher than my salary at the time, but I wasn't that interested in becoming a road warrior.

If I were independent, I doubt that I'd be able to bill at that rate, but I'm pretty sure that I would have had takers if I were to bill, say, at $200/hr, due to my specific knowledge of a mission-critical piece of software.
that **** sounds crazy. I've always fantasized about being able to buy cars with a few months side pay. That's pretty baller. My problem is getting my foot into the door when it comes to consulting gigs. I can't work as a regular contractor because I am a fulltime employee at another company. The other poster mentioned SCG as one avenue in, so I'm checking that out. You have any tips too?
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Old 12-19-2012, 10:52 AM
 
4,307 posts, read 6,241,064 times
Reputation: 6102
Quote:
Originally Posted by luau View Post
that **** sounds crazy. I've always fantasized about being able to buy cars with a few months side pay. That's pretty baller. My problem is getting my foot into the door when it comes to consulting gigs. I can't work as a regular contractor because I am a fulltime employee at another company. The other poster mentioned SCG as one avenue in, so I'm checking that out. You have any tips too?
Its not as crazy as you might think. If you are a Manager for a major IT Consulting firm, your firm will likely bill the client $2,000-3,000/day. Of course, most of this goes to pay overhead costs, along with Partner bonuses. As a Manager, you'll probably get around $150k/year, plus bonus. So, your split isn't great. Now, if you are working as a 1099 contractor, the corporate clients may think they're getting a bargain by paying you $1,500-2,000/day ($200-$250/hour). Of course, you have to pay for your own health insurance and you don't get other fringe benefits (401k, vacation pay, etc) and have a higher payroll tax (employee and employer). At the same time, you have a ton of write offs for work-related expenses, so you do end up coming out way ahead. You do risk the job security, but if your skills are in high demand, it does work out well over time.
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Old 12-19-2012, 12:19 PM
 
Location: SF Bay Area
802 posts, read 2,260,880 times
Reputation: 257
Quote:
Originally Posted by roadwarrior101 View Post
Its not as crazy as you might think. If you are a Manager for a major IT Consulting firm, your firm will likely bill the client $2,000-3,000/day. Of course, most of this goes to pay overhead costs, along with Partner bonuses. As a Manager, you'll probably get around $150k/year, plus bonus. So, your split isn't great. Now, if you are working as a 1099 contractor, the corporate clients may think they're getting a bargain by paying you $1,500-2,000/day ($200-$250/hour). Of course, you have to pay for your own health insurance and you don't get other fringe benefits (401k, vacation pay, etc) and have a higher payroll tax (employee and employer). At the same time, you have a ton of write offs for work-related expenses, so you do end up coming out way ahead. You do risk the job security, but if your skills are in high demand, it does work out well over time.
Also, depending what you are doing, you might be spending a lot of time doing business development to make sure that you have a constant pipeline of work, which is time that you won't be getting paid. Also, you might other expenses such as travel, equipment, admin overhead, etc. that will eat into your billing rate.

In my case, the types of gigs I would have expected would have been short-term engagements with companies located all across the country, so at the end of the day I would probably only come out a little bit ahead of a salaried job with the added headache of being a road warrior.
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Old 12-19-2012, 03:22 PM
 
Location: Murrieta California
3,038 posts, read 4,758,267 times
Reputation: 2314
There was no need to be a road warrior in Silicon Valley as there was always plenty of work in the area as long as you had the in-demand skill set. You can buy a lot benefits for the money you make contracting. I started as a 1099 and then incorporated to take advantage of some unique tax benefits that my financial advisor laid out for me.

I found it very difficult to go from a contractor back to perm. I tried it twice because I was offered a lot of stock options but went back to contracting. I enjoyed the independence of being a contractor and not having to deal with office politics.
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Old 12-19-2012, 05:16 PM
 
Location: SF Bay Area
802 posts, read 2,260,880 times
Reputation: 257
Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnSoCal View Post
There was no need to be a road warrior in Silicon Valley as there was always plenty of work in the area as long as you had the in-demand skill set. You can buy a lot benefits for the money you make contracting. I started as a 1099 and then incorporated to take advantage of some unique tax benefits that my financial advisor laid out for me.
I work in enterprise software, so the consulting work that I would have done would have been customer implementation. My wife used to work as an enterprise software implementation consultant (total coincidence; our jobs had nothing to do with us meeting) and would log anywhere from 60-80 flight segments a year - a grueling travel schedule IMO.

My experience is that, in enterprise software, there are some expectations around face time, especially at $300+/hour.
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