6 ms·

Ask HN: possible to get paid $300/hour as a programmer?

25 points by zxcvvcxz 14y ago

If so, how do you do it? Is there a particular market you focus on? A particular set of clients? Do any current companies pay this much? Is there a niche skillset that is worth just totally owning?

joezhou 14y ago
Yes a few of the node consultants I know charge around 250-350/hr. Some newly funded startups or even bigger companies who are looking to switch will pay. It's nothing to them.
- umbs 14y ago
  Can you please elaborate "node consultants"? What's their technical skill set?
  - bcardarella 14y ago
    they're "web scale"
    - frou_dh 14y ago
      That's MongoDB. The bear's verdict on node was Bad Ass Rock Star Tech.
  - chc 14y ago
    Pretty sure he's referring to Node.js. So their technical skillset would be building servers and modules with Node.js.
igorsyl 14y ago
Finance.
seanp2k2 14y ago
Possible? Yes. Typical? No. You basically have to be a "big name" or otherwise have a lot of high-profile, proven solutions that you can showcase if you're charging that much. Or, work in finance or provide DR consulting to HFT joints. You might also look into government contracts.
- heretohelp 14y ago
  > or provide DR consulting to HFT joints Unfuck this jargon for the rest of us please.
  - CyberFonic 14y ago
    "or provide Disaster Recovery consulting to High Frequency Trading joints" The joke is that often the top executives only think of planning for disaster after it has occurred. Up until that point it is "too expensive" or "not urgent".
damoncali 14y ago
Make fixed price bids on stuff you already know how to do or have already done.
clavalle 14y ago
I've gotten paid much more than this (though not for sustained periods of time). I had established clients. I knew their business. I get a call one day asking to fix something trivial. "Ok. But I have to charge you for an hour. I am happy to tell you how to fix it over the phone right now for free. It will just take a few minutes." (I think I was working on something else and didn't want to be bothered). "No, no. Just fix it. It's fine." /shrug/ 3 minutes later I have a billable hour (which was $150 at the time) ready for invoicing. That comes to an effective rate of $3000/hr.
cdrxndr 14y ago
If you're IBM, that's what you bill your clients (rate card about 1/4 through): http://www-304.ibm.com/easyaccess3/fileserve?contentid=127659 http://www-304.ibm.com/easyaccess3/fileserve?contentid=12765... I recall the SAP guys billing clients from $300-500/hr, and we often subcontracted experts at similarly awesome rates. Just gotta deal with enterprise software and everything that comes with it ...
clueless123 14y ago
Sure, get on with the right client on the right niche and you can do it easily. Examples: Enterprise Oracle DBA, SAP, SAS, Peoplesoft (basically stuff that big clients with big pockets need) * The catch is having the right connections to get you in.
wilfra 14y ago
We are in the market for an HTML5 game guru for an optimization job and would happily pay $300 per hour to the right person - I've made offers of more and been turned down. I imagine others in our position would be willing to pay the same - so I can certainly attest to the demand being there and it making sound business sense in certain situations.
CyberFonic 14y ago
Whilst the big consulting firms charge those sort of rates, most freelancers have difficulty getting anywhere near those levels. Really depends on your track record and connections.
tzm 14y ago
Oracle's rate card: http://www.cio.ny.gov/Contracts/ContractDocuments/OracleConsultingRateCardExhib9.pdf http://www.cio.ny.gov/Contracts/ContractDocuments/OracleCons...
luiscachavez 14y ago
Once I did it, hoping that the company hiring me thought I was nuts. Against all odds, they say yes. Just 3 hours of work, but they paid me 900 bucks. The advice here is: Be as good as you can in what you do. Work will come along. And charge'em what you please.

25 points by zxcvvcxz 14y ago

If so, how do you do it? Is there a particular market you focus on? A particular set of clients? Do any current companies pay this much? Is there a niche skillset that is worth just totally owning?

joezhou 14y ago

Yes a few of the node consultants I know charge around 250-350/hr. Some newly funded startups or even bigger companies who are looking to switch will pay. It's nothing to them.

umbs 14y ago
Can you please elaborate "node consultants"? What's their technical skill set?
- bcardarella 14y ago
  they're "web scale"
  - frou_dh 14y ago
    That's MongoDB. The bear's verdict on node was Bad Ass Rock Star Tech.
- chc 14y ago
  Pretty sure he's referring to Node.js. So their technical skillset would be building servers and modules with Node.js.

igorsyl 14y ago

Finance.

seanp2k2 14y ago

Possible? Yes. Typical? No. You basically have to be a "big name" or otherwise have a lot of high-profile, proven solutions that you can showcase if you're charging that much. Or, work in finance or provide DR consulting to HFT joints. You might also look into government contracts.

heretohelp 14y ago
> or provide DR consulting to HFT joints Unfuck this jargon for the rest of us please.
- CyberFonic 14y ago
  "or provide Disaster Recovery consulting to High Frequency Trading joints" The joke is that often the top executives only think of planning for disaster after it has occurred. Up until that point it is "too expensive" or "not urgent".

damoncali 14y ago

Make fixed price bids on stuff you already know how to do or have already done.

clavalle 14y ago

I've gotten paid much more than this (though not for sustained periods of time). I had established clients. I knew their business. I get a call one day asking to fix something trivial. "Ok. But I have to charge you for an hour. I am happy to tell you how to fix it over the phone right now for free. It will just take a few minutes." (I think I was working on something else and didn't want to be bothered). "No, no. Just fix it. It's fine." /shrug/ 3 minutes later I have a billable hour (which was $150 at the time) ready for invoicing. That comes to an effective rate of $3000/hr.

cdrxndr 14y ago

If you're IBM, that's what you bill your clients (rate card about 1/4 through): http://www-304.ibm.com/easyaccess3/fileserve?contentid=127659 http://www-304.ibm.com/easyaccess3/fileserve?contentid=12765... I recall the SAP guys billing clients from $300-500/hr, and we often subcontracted experts at similarly awesome rates. Just gotta deal with enterprise software and everything that comes with it ...

clueless123 14y ago

Sure, get on with the right client on the right niche and you can do it easily. Examples: Enterprise Oracle DBA, SAP, SAS, Peoplesoft (basically stuff that big clients with big pockets need) * The catch is having the right connections to get you in.

wilfra 14y ago

We are in the market for an HTML5 game guru for an optimization job and would happily pay $300 per hour to the right person - I've made offers of more and been turned down. I imagine others in our position would be willing to pay the same - so I can certainly attest to the demand being there and it making sound business sense in certain situations.

CyberFonic 14y ago

Whilst the big consulting firms charge those sort of rates, most freelancers have difficulty getting anywhere near those levels. Really depends on your track record and connections.

tzm 14y ago

Oracle's rate card: http://www.cio.ny.gov/Contracts/ContractDocuments/OracleConsultingRateCardExhib9.pdf http://www.cio.ny.gov/Contracts/ContractDocuments/OracleCons...

luiscachavez 14y ago

Once I did it, hoping that the company hiring me thought I was nuts. Against all odds, they say yes. Just 3 hours of work, but they paid me 900 bucks. The advice here is: Be as good as you can in what you do. Work will come along. And charge'em what you please.