Am I qualified for this contract position or should I turn it down?

[jingramm]

I have yet to respond or interview but I was contacted by a recruiter about an opening that last 2-3 months which is perfect for what I'm looking for. I'm looking for a short-term opportunity but I'm unsure about my qualifications.

This position requires strong Excel and VBA programming skills. I'm fine with Excel, but I'm not sure whether my VBA programming skills are strong. In my past positions, I have used it, debugged VBA code, and made simple automated tools but I did it through the help of Google. It was not part of my official job responsibilities.

In this contract position, I will be responsible for developing a VBA tool to replace an existing tool that currently uses FinCAD, back test results and deploy to production.

I need income at the moment but I don't want to look like a fool by biting more than I can chew. Also, what's the going hourly rate for a "VBA programmer"? If I decide to respond, they want to know my rate.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Everybody does everything with the help of google. If you know how to do it in another language, and have experience in other languages, you'll probably be find. 2-3 months out it 2-3 months of practice.

 

[jingramm]

Everybody does everything with the help of google. If you know how programming works and have experience in other languages, you'll probably be find. 2-3 months out it 2-3 months of practice.

I don't have much experience in other languages though. I have used VBA here and there throughout the past few years in my jobs, but this was not my core responsibility. I'd be willing to put in a lot of outside work hours trying to develop this tool but I'm not sure whether I can pass the interview anyway.

 

[Fallen Kell]

I think then the only way to know is to interview...

 

[Markbnj]

Teddy Roosevelt once said, "If a man asks whether you can do a job, tell him you can and then learn how to do it."

Or so I've been told.

 

[beginner99]

Teddy Roosevelt once said, "If a man asks whether you can do a job, tell him you can and then learn how to do it."

Or so I've been told.

True but learning and doing it in 2-3 month is a bit optimistic.

If it isn't too much a hassle I would just go to the interview. Maybe you don't like it anyway and then it's an easy decision. Personally I would not want to do anything in VBA beyond for personal throw-away code when cleaning data. Maybe ask if VBA is a must and why not create a custom .net application.

 

[Tweak155]

This is exactly what I do now. Contract VBA work. It is a dead language that a lot of companies still have a demand for.

Your rate will vary based on a few factors. I suggest asking the recruiter what the range is (that is one benefit of the recruiting world... they know what they can pay you... just know you can probably go slightly higher).

My guess is that it wouldn't be under $25/hr and more likely over $30/hr. I'm well over that at my point, so you may get lucky if they are really needing someone.

Anyway, one recruiter I did work for had an online test I had to take before I could even interview which monitored if you had another IE window / tab open. I only got one wrong and finished really fast, so they "hired" me before I even interviewed. Basically I just went and told them whether or not I wanted to do it.

What is the name of the agency?

 

[jingramm]

This is exactly what I do now. Contract VBA work. It is a dead language that a lot of companies still have a demand for.

Your rate will vary based on a few factors. I suggest asking the recruiter what the range is (that is one benefit of the recruiting world... they know what they can pay you... just know you can probably go slightly higher).

My guess is that it wouldn't be under $25/hr and more likely over $30/hr. I'm well over that at my point, so you may get lucky if they are really needing someone.

Anyway, one recruiter I did work for had an online test I had to take before I could even interview which monitored if you had another IE window / tab open. I only got one wrong and finished really fast, so they "hired" me before I even interviewed. Basically I just went and told them whether or not I wanted to do it.

What is the name of the agency?

The agency is Genu ent

I will ask for the range but it appears that they want me to state my desired amount first. Is between $30-50/hr the right amount? I will most likely try to get to the interview stage but I'm not sure whether I can pass the VBA portion.

 

[BrightCandle]

I am a little different, I don't apply to any contracts I don't have all the required and desired skills for unless its something pretty obscure. The core language in my opinion is something you need to have solid knowledge of, if you can't just sit and write in it all day without tutorials then you should assume those are the guys are you competing with.

Recruiters have a habit of having a preferred contractor and then picking some other people to make the first go look really good. You might be one of the "makes the other guy look great" candidates if your skills don't fit too well.

 

[Tweak155]

The agency is Genu ent

I will ask for the range but it appears that they want me to state my desired amount first. Is between $30-50/hr the right amount? I will most likely try to get to the interview stage but I'm not sure whether I can pass the VBA portion.

I would base it off what you need to do the job, not what someone thinks you should ask.

Contracting is always looking for a core set of skills, but with VBA, at least in my area, those people are few and far between. With the company I'm at now, they struggle to find people, frequently offering to out of state people. But since it is contract, they don't pay relocation costs.

The core things to figure out with contracting:

1 - Is your pay 1099 or W2 (or some places offer the option)?

2 - If it is W2, what is the benefits package?

3 - What is the length of the contract?

If you have no idea about any of these, ask them ahead of time before offering a range. $30/hr on 1099 is <probably> less than $30/hr on W2, depending on what you can write off.

 

[ultimatebob]

Visual Basic is a pretty damn easy language to learn, no? I'm a lousy programmer, and even I can write a basic VB app with a database back end.

 

[smackababy]

I would base it off what you need to do the job, not what someone thinks you should ask.

Contracting is always looking for a core set of skills, but with VBA, at least in my area, those people are few and far between. With the company I'm at now, they struggle to find people, frequently offering to out of state people. But since it is contract, they don't pay relocation costs.

The core things to figure out with contracting:

1 - Is your pay 1099 or W2 (or some places offer the option)?

2 - If it is W2, what is the benefits package?

3 - What is the length of the contract?

If you have no idea about any of these, ask them ahead of time before offering a range. $30/hr on 1099 is <probably> less than $30/hr on W2, depending on what you can write off.

When I was doing contract work, I always asked for like 15% more for 1099 than W-2.

 

[Tweak155]

Visual Basic is a pretty damn easy language to learn, no? I'm a lousy programmer, and even I can write a basic VB app with a database back end.

Easy to learn, hard to master. The things .NET makes easy and builds into the language / environment make your life easier. In VB6/VBA, you have to get creative and make your own solutions.

But, at least around here, if you're at least *good* you'll easily find placement.

 

[Tweak155]

When I was doing contract work, I always asked for like 15% more for 1099 than W-2.

Sounds about right. 7% just to cover additional taxes...

 

[BrightCandle]

I really dislike programming anything of any size in VBA. Its a real mess and some incredibly obvious and basic library functions are completely missing. Then you have some of the craziness of Word/Excel etc thrown in for good measure and VBA is an annoying programming environment to say the least. I don't miss it one bit.

 

[Tweak155]

I really dislike programming anything of any size in VBA. Its a real mess and some incredibly obvious and basic library functions are completely missing. Then you have some of the craziness of Word/Excel etc thrown in for good measure and VBA is an annoying programming environment to say the least. I don't miss it one bit.

Haha, I love it