Going rate for student software development?

[jano]

I'm considering offloading some part time dev work to a student - he gets experience, I get things done I don't have enough time/capacity for.

How much should I offer? I got R10/h in Matric but that was 13 years ago. I started working at R60/h effectively, 11 years ago. So I'm thinking about R50/h, but it depends on whether I pay for his "learning curve" or not. We'll probably do it something like this: I need a piece of work done, I believe it should reasonably take 10 hours, at your hourly rate of R50/h, that's R500. Collect the money when you're done with the piece of work.

I guess it also needs to be compared to whatever part-time job he currently has. If I can pay more, and there's a reasonable prospect of continuing work, then he can code instead of waitering, or whatever he does.

 

[MongooseMan]

If you pay peanuts...

 

[Sysem]

I'm currently working like this, but for more. I started at R55p/h, but now I'm making R80p/h.

 

[guest2013-1]

(I ripped off this quote from DJ somewhere, adlibbed)

If you think hiring an expert is expensive, try employing an amateur

 

[Nether]

(I ripped off this quote from DJ somewhere, adlibbed)

If you think hiring an expert is expensive, try employing an amateur

All experts were amateurs once.

 

[froot]

R50ph? Ouch. That's actually quite low. (I started in second year earning R100/h doing php)

 

[Ghost02]

Where do you guys usually make these connections? I'm really tired of being a waiter while doing a BSc...

 

[Compton_effect]

Where do you guys usually make these connections? I'm really tired of being a waiter while doing a BSc...

Have you advertised your services on the forum?

 

[Ghost02]

I figured that would be considered spam and the classifieds are pretty dead as far as I can tell.

 

[jano]

OK, R100/h. What is the starting salary for someone with BSc Comp Sci / IT degree these days?

Obviously someone with a degree will earn / be able to charge more.

 

[jano]

(I ripped off this quote from DJ somewhere, adlibbed)

If you think hiring an expert is expensive, try employing an amateur

Well, I'm an expert, so if I have to hire an expensive one, I'd rather do it myself. I just don't have enough free time to put in the hours to get the work done.

So think of it as an "outsource yourself" model ;-) Except not for my day job, but little part time / pet projects with modest prospects for modest income.

 

[FlatspinZA]

You could be like that guy in the US that farmed all his work out to the Indians and did nothing all day.

 

[Solarion]

5 years experience web development, sitting on R60/ph

 

[MagicDude4Eva]

Wow - that's cheap in my opinion. So you are finding a student who should do work you can't do because of your time-constraints and you are willing to pay him 50 bucks an hour? Why don't you look at realistically what it would be worth to you? I would rather look at it from an opportunity perspective - if you find a student who is really good, you want to keep him and not offer him a low pay.

 

[sp4ceman]

5 years experience web development, sitting on R60/ph

what language and where do you live?

 

[froot]

OK, R100/h. What is the starting salary for someone with BSc Comp Sci / IT degree these days?

I can get R15k straight out of uni (with a CS degree) with zero experience, doing C#.

5 years experience web development, sitting on R60/ph

:wtf: Contract based, or permanent employment? Either way it's very very low.

 

[Compton_effect]

I can get R15k straight out of uni (with a CS degree) with zero experience, doing C#.

Inflation is horrible. I started with R3k - almost 15 years ago.
But be carefull - unless you are lucky - the higher the salary for a jnr, the more the job sucks.

 

[AnonDev]

I can get R15k straight out of uni (with a CS degree) with zero experience, doing C#.

That isn't all that much honestly. The highest I've heard of is a company in Cape Town that pays the lowest level employee R35k p/m. Which includes fresh out of varsity graduates.

I actually know a few companies that would easily pay more 15k p/m for a competent person that is a culture fit.

 

[HavocXphere]

If you know the person will deliver than all the numbers here are too low. If you know the person won't deliver all the numbers are too high - fixing a mess is expensive business.

So I think the question is more whether you have a specific student in mind?

Personally I'd up the offer quite a bit...trek to the local uni and ask the lecturer for their top student & mentioning the good experience and significantly upped pay. Maybe things are done differently in the programming world though so who knows.