Job of the Week...

[d000hg]

PHP is a very cheap skill because so many freelance hackers use it for web-dev. People in that category wouldn't consider £12.50 a bad rate.

[stek]

PHP is a very cheap skill because so many freelance hackers use it for web-dev. People in that category wouldn't consider £12.50 a bad rate.

My first rate in the early nineties was £18.84 an hour! Strange amount but it's stuck in my mind....

[amcdonald]

PHP is a very cheap skill because so many freelance hackers use it for web-dev. People in that category wouldn't consider £12.50 a bad rate.

I've seen Oracle going that cheap before, some agents and clients will try it on hoping to get a bob in

As for PHP yes it's easy to learn, but look at the sh1te code outhere shows theres still a premium for people who can actually code rather than hack a site together

£12.50 an hour ffs, you'd be better off being a plumber and competing against EU immigrants

[d000hg]

People who know PHP aren't mostly any good at plumbing. You can whinge about quality and immigrant workers and too-low rates, but the fact is PHP and web-dev generally is one area you'll find lots of English people who will consider that a decent rate as freelancers. PHP is the VB of the web in terms of the wide audience of people using it who might not be what we'd call professional developers.

[The_Equalizer]

People who know PHP aren't mostly any good at plumbing. You can whinge about quality and immigrant workers and too-low rates, but the fact is PHP and web-dev generally is one area you'll find lots of English people who will consider that a decent rate as freelancers. PHP is the VB of the web in terms of the wide audience of people using it who might not be what we'd call professional developers.

Not so sure about that these days. Front-end interface stuff is getting far more technical. Have you ever tried your hand at OO Javascript? Mid-range web development in the smoke is about £350+/day and I saw £600-650 with a well known IB last week.

[d000hg]

What people are paying for contractors and what freelancers are looking to charge are two separate things in my experience.

[nomadd]

My first rate in the early nineties was £18.84 an hour! Strange amount but it's stuck in my mind....

My first contract was 1989 for £25 per hour. And that wasn't working in Banking. Still, I thought I was a "made man."

Then, 22 years later, you see contract roles like this one for £10 an hour. Scary.

[The_Equalizer]

What people are paying for contractors and what freelancers are looking to charge are two separate things in my experience.

I think I get your point. As it happens I know people that a superb, but 'freelance' and don't make much if anything over a permie rate. They do get to call the shots on what, when and how they work which is the whole point I guess. Moreover, as was said earlier in this thread, Bobs don't take a great interest in the front-end stuff. This would imply it's not considered a good start to any kind of career. Suppose we can't all be king of the castle.

[SueEllen]

My first contract was 1989 for £25 per hour. And that wasn't working in Banking. Still, I thought I was a "made man."

Then, 22 years later, you see contract roles like this one for £10 an hour. Scary.

Way of the world unfortunately.

If you go to those freelancer websites you see people offering to pay £200 for very complex websites. They don't understand just because something seems easy to do it doesn't mean it is.

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

If you go to those freelancer websites you see people offering to pay £200 for very complex websites. They don't understand just because something seems easy to do it doesn't mean it is.

Very true but I remember when I was permie I was getting very little work and there were a lot of "quiet" periods. I was willing to work on the cheap because I was really bored. So sometimes people do it for the extra experience/cv. Then again you will get a Bob in some rural area in india working on a 56.6k modem who will work for nearly free....