Serious question, I was at a coffee shop in Austin and saw a guy working on a huge project for $15 an hour

Honestly, I overheard him talking to a friend about a website redesign that should have cost at least two grand. He was using some freelance platform that takes a huge cut, and he looked totally burned out. It made me think about how we all set our rates when starting out. How do you figure out what to charge for your first few jobs without getting stuck like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

casey14526d ago

Saw a similar thing at a library in Denver, a kid building an entire app for like twelve bucks an hour. It feels like those platforms are built to find people who don't know their own worth yet. I started by looking at what full time jobs in my field paid and then cut that rate in half for my first project.

karenhenderson26d ago

How do you even find a baseline rate, @casey145? I just searched for junior level job postings and used that salary to figure out an hourly freelance price.

spencerm523d ago

But how do you even know what a full time job pays in your field if you're brand new and have no network to ask? Those online salary tools always feel off, and job postings rarely list a real number anymore.