$32/HR for 8 months vs. $40K for the completed project? (highest, employer, work from home)

[curly_Q]

I am in a field that is project based. I usually will have a final deliverable project to complete within a given amount of time. I could make more money if I was able to agree to the contract project plan with the client, then work from home with occasional meetings on site or online.

I lose money by being paid hourly and having to work at the client site.

For example, if the project paid $32 hour for eight months at 40 hours a week, that is around $40K total. I would rather be paid that for the project than by the hour if I could work from home.

Why?

Well, I usually can accomplish a full day's work in the first two early morning hours of the day while most commuters are stuck in traffic. I could easily and more interestingly work on more than one project at a time, potentially making three times as much.

It is also a better guarantee for the client/employer to pay by the project instead of by the hour. How many people get paid by the hour to sit in a cubicle and surf the net?

Why do you think clients are so hesitant to write better and different contracts, that pay contractors by the project or final deliverable product instead of by the hour?

[manderly6]

I have always seen it the opposite on projects we put out for bid. We always want flat fee over time and materials. Consultants always want the opposite.

But something in your post doesn't add up. How is it you can accomplish a full day's work in two hours? Either you are padding your estimate by a lot in the beginning or the clients are clueless to how many hours it would take.

[curly_Q]

Originally Posted by manderly6

I have always seen it the opposite on projects we put out for bid. We always want flat fee over time and materials. Consultants always want the opposite.

But something in your post doesn't add up. How is it you can accomplish a full day's work in two hours? Either you are padding your estimate by a lot in the beginning or the clients are clueless to how many hours it would take.

From my experience, it is not the contractor who is negotiating the rate of pay or the timeline on the contract. It is a third party placement agency or technical or IT services and staffing agency that takes 20% for placing the contractor at the client site.

I don't understand why companies use third party agencies in their job postings.

To answer your question, maybe I am able to complete a project in half the amount of time as someone with less skills or less experience.

Does it matter how much time it takes me, if the final deliverable product is of the highest quality?

[manderly6]

Originally Posted by curly_Q

From my experience, it is not the contractor who is negotiating the rate of pay or the timeline on the contract. It is a third party placement agency or technical or IT services and staffing agency that takes 20% for placing the contractor at the client site.

I don't understand why companies use third party agencies in their job postings.

To answer your question, maybe I am able to complete a project in half the amount of time as someone with less skills or less experience.

Does it matter how much time it takes me, if the final deliverable product is of the highest quality?

You didn't say half the time. You said a quarter of the time. It just seems odd.

[curly_Q]

Originally Posted by manderly6

You didn't say half the time. You said a quarter of the time. It just seems odd.

When I have to complete work at the client site, I need access to their building and to their internet and intranet. This can take three days to three months to get.

Then, I have to use the client's much slower computer, which does not typically have the software installed that would make the project even better. I end up sitting in a cubicle for 8 hours, chatting with people at the office who have nothing to do with the project.

Then I still have to go home and get some work accomplished on my much faster and better home office computers. I have to test to see if my projects run on mobile devices and different operating systems, and I can't do that at a client site.

That's why I am putting a moratorium on accepting these ridiculous contracts that require actually being at the client site.