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I've worked as a contract writer (both freelance/independent and as agency sponsored) for almost 10 years and I've always worked by the hour. No one ever asked me to bid a dollar figure, although most are interested in knowing how long I think a project will take. My biggest lesson learned is to write down all the expectations (write a spec) and give everyone a copy at the beginning of a job. Memories fade, paper's proof, and organization counts!
Cheers!
Geri Frick
Technical Communicator
Delivery Systems Certification & Training
The Boeing Company
> ----------
> From: Kevin McLauchlan[SMTP:KMcLauchlan -at- CHRYSALIS-ITS -dot- COM]
> Reply To: Kevin McLauchlan
> Sent: Wednesday, April 07, 1999 8:10 AM
> To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
> Subject: Guesstimate THIS! (was RE: Contracting Experiences
>
> Do I understand correctly that most of you folks who
> are contractors are charging by-the-hour?
>
> I've missed something, then.
>
> I'd been living under the misapprehension that one of
> the most valuable skills a writer needed to develop,
> before leaving employeedom behind, was the skill of
> sizing up a job and ACCURATELY estimating the
> necessary tools and man-hours to get it done. The
> purpose of that was to bid on a contract job for a
> specific dollar figure. 'Guess' too high and you
> watch the contract go to somebody else. 'Guess'
> too low and you're stuck with a money-loser that
> you must finish or lose face (and future customers).
>
> Can you call yourself "independent" or a "contractor"
> if you are working by the hour and if you can simply
> declare that you need more time -- within the schedule --
> and charge overtime for it? ("I worked 7 hours per
> day for three months, and then I worked 16 hours per
> day for the final 2 weeks and charged 'em time-and-a-half
> for half those hours".)
>
> I've occasionally contemplated the alluring prospect of
> independence, but I've always been scared off by the
> kinds of reschedules (in either direction) and rethinks
> that go on at my "permanent" employers, which tend
> to shoot big holes in any estimates that were made
> way back at the beginning. At least, as an employee,
> I just go with the flow and keep getting paid -- at
> overtime rates, if necessary -- when a schedule slips
> or a product gets an emergency revision.
>
> How many of you do we think are quoting complete
> contracts -- with which you are then stuck, unless the
> client does something drastic that unmistakably justifies
> overruns -- and how many are just signing up for "X"
> many hours per day (or week) until there's no more
> work to do on this project?
>
> Also, for either kind of "independent", how important
> have you found your estimating skills to be, in the
> furtherance of your net worth?
>
> Thanks,
>
>
>
> Kevin McLauchlan
> kmclauchlan -at- chrysalis-its -dot- com (aka kevinmcl -at- netrover -dot- com)
> Journeyman techy writer, duffer skydiver, full-time unrepentent chocoholic
>
> PS: Please forgive a recent lapse, where I forgot to trim
> the replied message when I sent to the list. I know
> what a pain that is for anybody receiving the digest in
> concatenated form. Didn't want to send a separate
> message just for that apology.
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Elna Tymes [SMTP:etymes -at- LTS -dot- COM]
> > Sent: Tuesday, April 06, 1999 12:29 PM
> > Subject: Re: Contracting Experiences
> >
> [snip]
>
> > And THAT is truly one of the joys of contracting! As I've gotten older,
> > I've
> > found I'm even less willing to suffer fools gladly. Which makes dealing
> > with
> > managers/developers/engineers who don't know what they're doing very
> > difficult -
> > tact is, for me, a learned skill. What keeps me sane in those
> > circumstances is to
> > silently remind myself that they're paying me by the hour.
> >
> [snip]
>
> From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000==>
>
>
>
