What is hourly rate for LV contractors?

[carlover]

Hi,
What is usual hourly rate for LabVIEW contractor in Northern California (SF and SJ area)?

I understand that the rate will depend on skill and knowledge…We will be looking to hire LabVIEW contractor for short (2-3 months) project,  but need guidance on determining hourly rate.

All help is appreciated

[BillMe]

Take the normal rate you would offer a prospective employee (non-contractor) for the given skill and knowledge and then add in the overhead costs of providing for benefits, e.g. medical, dental, vacation, etc. That will get you in the ballpark.

[Ray.R]

Typically, shorter term contracts have higher hourly rates than longer-term contracts.

Also, it depends on the task at hand:  for instance, architecturing the software has greater hourly rate than coding.

A newbie may charge a lot less, but an experienced programmer (usually Certified) will cost a lot less in the long-run. You have to consider maintainability & scalability of the code.  Another thing to consider is what tools and or libraries the coder / architect is providing with the service.  Pre-coded libraries will save a lot of time at coding & testing the software, but may come at a premium...

There is no straight answer on rates, the range could be anywhere between $50 to $120 / hour.  

Other factors include how fast you want the code done, how reliable you want it, what level of documentation, how much supervision you wish to give, etc...

[carlover]

Bill and Joe - thanks!

We originally estimated rate in a similar manner as Bill described, however we were not sure if that rate is compatible -  we don't want  it to be low, and not attract  any contractors, nor we want to be 'taken to cleaners' (rate too high)

- $50 - $120 /h is a huge margin - but I understand, and agree, with points you made (lower rate  inexperienced developer will end up costing more in the long run)

Basically  we are looking for someone to automate movements of fairly straight forward  robotic platform (R&D  environment, not mfg) .

[BIRA_PXI]

Hi Carlover,

Can this project be telecommuted to a certain extent or does one need to be at the site at all times. I am in New Mexico, and might be interested in the project. Can you send some more details on the project ?

Thanks,

birapxi

[Ray.R]

Hi Carlover,

Yes, I described quite a margin, but keep in mind that at the higher rate $120 /hr would include code library, turnkey solution, most likely a Certified LV Architect, and a alliance member.  However, it isn't necessarily that high, because it depends on many other circumstances..  I doubt they'd be higher than that...

The margin for what you describe is more in the range of $50 to $75 / hr depending on level of expertise, where the work is done, etc.  Note that these are typical numbers only and greatly vary on location, person's expertise, etc.. this range is not fixed, either..

You can find people who have much lesser rates (as low as $20 hr), but you'll have to seriously scrutinize their abilities 😉

If you want good examples of what to ask when interviewing candidates, you can have a look at topics discussed this thread.