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Perl Contracting

sigzero on 2006-10-23T13:34:55

Recently, I have been thinking about Perl contracting jobs. I have never really considered going to solo route before. Is it unreasonable to expect 60-70k+ after all is said and done?

What has been your experience in the realm of being a full-time Perl contractor?

insufficient information...

nicholas on 2006-10-23T13:41:50

60-70k+

seventy thousand Vietnamese Đồng - yes, probably quite easy. :-)

A clue on which currency, and which part of the world, would make it easier to answer the question usefully.

Re:insufficient information...

sigzero on 2006-10-23T13:59:08

Sorry, that would be US dollars. : )

re: Perl Contracting

davorg on 2006-10-23T14:49:58

I can't speak for the US, but here in London a Perl contractor who didn't make £60k a year really wouldn't be trying very hard :-)

Re: Perl Contracting

brian_d_foy on 2006-10-23T19:23:16

That almost sounds good, until I remember its London, a terribly expensive city. Maybe it was just my weak dollars that made me afraid to buy almost anything. :)

Probably...but can you survive on it ?

renodino on 2006-10-23T16:06:33

While US$70K may seem like a lot of scratch, if you're truly a contractor (ie,

  • funding your own benefits
  • paying biz insurance
  • paying biz taxes
  • paying both halves of the FICA scam
  • covering the cost of downtime between contracts
  • paying for your own sick time and vacation time
...etc.), you may find you're losing money.

I don't mean to dissuade you, just to advise you that there's a bit more to it than just hanging out a shingle.

Regardless the language - or even profession - you're contracting in, you need to factor in a lot more costs for your compensation to be equivalent to being an FTE. Usual rule of thumb is take whatever you're making as an FTE (incl. benefit costs), and add 35%.

Even if you're being pimped by a body shop, some of those costs will still apply.

Re:Probably...but can you survive on it ?

sigzero on 2006-10-23T16:52:25

I was thinking of all that in the "after all is said and done" statement. So that would be my "leftover" after all that stuff.