IT/Tech Support Consulting Salary question....(I've been offerred a new job!)

[codeyf]

Ok, so here's the deal. Interviewed today for a "jack of all trades" type of IT position with a local real estate office. The exact details aren't nailed down yet, but they want me for the job. Situation is, they have a current IT guy in their office. My interview was with the owner, and his take on the guy is that he's smart, and a nice guy, but he's 19 and doesn't know what he wants to do yet. And more specifically, he doesn't want to be working there. Because he has no hard feelings for the guy, he doesn't want to just cut him loose, but rather gently transition him out.

So, what they want me to do in the beginning while phasing out the current guy is basically be a part-time "consultant" for the office staff and the agents. Duties are your typical Help Desk stuff, desktop hardware, software etc. Along with some web dev and tech support in building/hosting/publishing agent sites. And topping it off with sys admin duties. This would be spread between two office, roughly 20-30 min apart. These would be the duties to start.

In the next 6+ months, there are much larger tasks/projects that will begin to be implemented, as well as some larger issues that will need to be addressed. These range from implementing a new email client for the office (many of the agents are currently using Hotmail) to the long term goal of finding a back end solution that links everything involved in the real estate transacaction (mls, corporate, accounting, etc etc etc).

In my meeting today with the owner, I'm supposed to call him monday or tuesday with the following:

1. My desired (hourly?) wage for the "consulting" / part-time period.
2. The number of hours I'm available per day/week.

#2 is obviously something I need to figure out with my family etc. However, on the wage issue, I'm stumped. I spoke with a good friend and we discussed how broad of a pay range is involved. We figured anyware from $20/hr clear on up to $50+/hr. I'm fairly green, however have some good experience in the areas they're looking for. So with that in mind, I'm obviosly not worth $50+/hr, but I believe I'm worth more than $20.

So, what is the going rate for "consultants" supporting the above?

There are some things I need to clarify with him next week that will affect what I ask for. Such as medical benefits, his envisioned time frame before I go full time (he said it would go "very quickly"), wether or not the wage would change once I went full time etc etc.

I don't want to undercut myself, but I don't want to discourage them either.


I appreciate any/all input on this. I've been looking for a GOOD opportunity for a long time now, and I have been VERY fortunate to have this pretty much handed to me. This is an excellent long term career opportunity for me that can have a huge affect on me and my family, so I'd like to make sure I make the right decisions the first time around!

 

[codeyf]

Some interesting info I found on salary.com for my zip code:

Information Services Consultant
25th Percentile - $83,930
Median - $96,393
75th Percentile - $107,938

Job Description
Information Services Consultant:

Information Services Consultant (Consulting Services)
Works with end user groups to evaluate and solve technical problems. Evaluates existing systems and/or user needs to analyze, design, recommend, and implement system changes. Requires a bachelor's degree and at least 7 years of experience in the field or in a related area. Familiar with a variety of the field's concepts, practices, and procedures. Relies on experience and judgment to plan and accomplish goals. Performs a variety of complicated tasks. May lead and direct the work of others. A wide degree of creativity and latitude is expected. May report to an executive or a manager.


Really, in a nutshell, this is what it is to a T, except add in the Desktop Support and Web Support in with it.

I don't have a degree, I do have between 7-8 years of industry experience.

I would be reporting to the owners(2) of the agency.

Last year, with roughly 100 agents, they were about #260 in the nation for gross # of sales. Key detail is that the agencies right above/below them had roughly 5x as many agents in their office. It's a very HIGH volume agency.

I basically would be the one IT person for both offices.

 

[KLin]

How much does the 19 year old kid make? I seriously doubt they're going to pay you anywhere near that salary.com wage range.

 

[cerebusPu]

they wont pay that much. those numbers are for consultants (no benefits) and for fairly large corporations. if i were to guess at a number...Id say ~$30/hour for the fulltime rate. Part time rate may be higher.

 

[DanTMWTMP]

Originally posted by: codeyf
Some interesting info I found on salary.com for my zip code:

Information Services Consultant
25th Percentile - $83,930
Median - $96,393
75th Percentile - $107,938

Job Description
Information Services Consultant:

Information Services Consultant (Consulting Services)
Works with end user groups to evaluate and solve technical problems. Evaluates existing systems and/or user needs to analyze, design, recommend, and implement system changes. Requires a bachelor's degree and at least 7 years of experience in the field or in a related area. Familiar with a variety of the field's concepts, practices, and procedures. Relies on experience and judgment to plan and accomplish goals. Performs a variety of complicated tasks. May lead and direct the work of others. A wide degree of creativity and latitude is expected. May report to an executive or a manager.


Really, in a nutshell, this is what it is to a T, except add in the Desktop Support and Web Support in with it.

I don't have a degree, I do have between 7-8 years of industry experience.

I would be reporting to the owners(2) of the agency.

Last year, with roughly 100 agents, they were about #260 in the nation for gross # of sales. Key detail is that the agencies right above/below them had roughly 5x as many agents in their office. It's a very HIGH volume agency.

I basically would be the one IT person for both offices.

!!!!!! seatle pays that much for IT?!?!!?!?

most of my peers who graduated only get btwn 45-60k a year tops for tough engineering jobs....

damn maybe i should continue this IT thing..my current job @ a research lab is to basically do help desk, hardware/software hlp, web development, systems admin....don't get paid much though

 

[flot]

Umm, yeah, that 80k-120k figure doesn't even remotely apply to you, sorry.

Chances are, they're paying the kid something like $9-15 an hour. What you'll want/need to get paid will depend a lot on how many hours you're expected to be there. And while it sounds like a good job, I wouldn't read too much into it... they may just have a # of specific problems that need to be solved, and once they're solved.... then what?

Just off the top of my head, I'd say a full time position for a SMALLER office like that should pay somewhere in the $30k-40k range. You could stretch that a bit, because of the # of agents etc you'd be supporting, but it's important to remember - if they are getting along fine with some 19 yr old kid now, their needs just aren't that great. Also they may look at the position as easily expendable/replaceable, which in all honesty it is - there are plenty of people out there qualified to do that kind of work, and plenty that are unqualified that could fake it.

On the plus side, realtors are used to dealing with large chunks of money. On the minus side, any expenses the office has *comes right out of their pocket* ... so... hmm... well, good luck. If someone asked me an hourly rate to "consult" on that sort of issue, I'd be thinking in the $25/hr range. However, that may or may not translate into the same sort of salary you could expect full time.

 

[codeyf]

Yes, I know that is no where near what I would get, and I certainly don't expect that. I just thought it was interesting.

The current person is "fine" for now, but he is not good enough for their mid to long-term goals.

They are not looking for temporary work. He spoke very strongly about longevity. He has a hand full of people that have been working for him since they started and are going on 17+ years working with him. He specifically put an emphasis on this.

They did throw out a figure of $50/hr when discussing how I the services would be billed to the agents.

He knows very much that the realtors are extremely demanding. Mainly he talked about when you have these agents making high 6 (and even 7) figures, they typically have egos to go with it.

The main purpose of the position, which has to do with back end applications and what not is in no way a short term project. He is not looking to fill a "disposable" position.

So far, we're pretty much in line. As I was thinking in the $25-30/hr range.

Thanks for the info guys, gimme more!

 

[Rudee]

Originally posted by: codeyf
Some interesting info I found on salary.com for my zip code:

Information Services Consultant
25th Percentile - $83,930
Median - $96,393
75th Percentile - $107,938

Job Description
Information Services Consultant:

Information Services Consultant (Consulting Services)
Works with end user groups to evaluate and solve technical problems. Evaluates existing systems and/or user needs to analyze, design, recommend, and implement system changes. Requires a bachelor's degree and at least 7 years of experience in the field or in a related area. Familiar with a variety of the field's concepts, practices, and procedures. Relies on experience and judgment to plan and accomplish goals. Performs a variety of complicated tasks. May lead and direct the work of others. A wide degree of creativity and latitude is expected. May report to an executive or a manager.

That information you're quoting seems outdated and innacurate. Maybe during the IT boom of early to mid 90's an experienced "consultant" could command such a salary; not any more. Besides, those duties are not really what i would call "Consulting" duties. They fall more in line with "IT Support". Supply and demand has changed this drastically, to where a high school kids can do these functions in their spare time, and often do, for much much less money. $20/hour is probably a lot closer to reality.

 

[Yax]

First you explain to him how much consultants make. Maybe give him those numbers. Then you tell him that since you are not in that industry full time, you only desire $30/hour.

That should do it.

 

[codeyf]

Originally posted by: cheapbidder01
First you explain to him how much consultants make. Maybe give him those numbers. Then you tell him that since you are not in that industry full time, you only desire $30/hour.

That should do it.

That's the best thing i've heard so far. Very good approach. Thank you!

 

[NYSTrooper]

Originally posted by: codeyf
Ok, so here's the deal. Interviewed today for a "jack of all trades" type of IT position with a local real estate office. The exact details aren't nailed down yet, but they want me for the job. Situation is, they have a current IT guy in their office. My interview was with the owner, and his take on the guy is that he's smart, and a nice guy, but he's 19 and doesn't know what he wants to do yet. And more specifically, he doesn't want to be working there. Because he has no hard feelings for the guy, he doesn't want to just cut him loose, but rather gently transition him out.

So, what they want me to do in the beginning while phasing out the current guy is basically be a part-time "consultant" for the office staff and the agents. Duties are your typical Help Desk stuff, desktop hardware, software etc. Along with some web dev and tech support in building/hosting/publishing agent sites. And topping it off with sys admin duties. This would be spread between two office, roughly 20-30 min apart. These would be the duties to start.

In the next 6+ months, there are much larger tasks/projects that will begin to be implemented, as well as some larger issues that will need to be addressed. These range from implementing a new email client for the office (many of the agents are currently using Hotmail) to the long term goal of finding a back end solution that links everything involved in the real estate transacaction (mls, corporate, accounting, etc etc etc).

In my meeting today with the owner, I'm supposed to call him monday or tuesday with the following:

1. My desired (hourly?) wage for the "consulting" / part-time period.
2. The number of hours I'm available per day/week.

#2 is obviously something I need to figure out with my family etc. However, on the wage issue, I'm stumped. I spoke with a good friend and we discussed how broad of a pay range is involved. We figured anyware from $20/hr clear on up to $50+/hr. I'm fairly green, however have some good experience in the areas they're looking for. So with that in mind, I'm obviosly not worth $50+/hr, but I believe I'm worth more than $20.

So, what is the going rate for "consultants" supporting the above?

There are some things I need to clarify with him next week that will affect what I ask for. Such as medical benefits, his envisioned time frame before I go full time (he said it would go "very quickly"), wether or not the wage would change once I went full time etc etc.

I don't want to undercut myself, but I don't want to discourage them either.


I appreciate any/all input on this. I've been looking for a GOOD opportunity for a long time now, and I have been VERY fortunate to have this pretty much handed to me. This is an excellent long term career opportunity for me that can have a huge affect on me and my family, so I'd like to make sure I make the right decisions the first time around!

This is almost EXACTLY what I do right now in Poughkeepsie, NY while I'm attending the CIA. I love the job because the maintance can be done from 2-7ish when I get out of class and people are still around the office. Generally I can leave ~5 but I like to stick around for the hours. Project work I get done with 10 hour days on the weeekend. I took an office wish list of tech related hardware and spend a lot of time filling it out with Hot Deals for the forum. That keeps them really happy, I probably save the managing partners twice what they pay me.

My job is a bit more hardware related, they had an independent consultant do their web design on my reccomendation and with the economy down we got a killer deal. I can do the maintance myself on the webpages, and it has a utility that the agents can update themselves. There's about a dozen offices within a 60 mile radius but only one office has a persistent broadband connection. Modems are my biggest time consumer, they crap out and mysteriously disappear from hardware control panels all the time. I walk someone through reinstalling a modem about once every 3 or 4 days. Hardware purchasing and upgrades is also my responsibility and I get pretty lax discresionary spending as long as it goes to the office. I bought one of the $999 Costco video projectors without even asking, they were thrilled because they had been paying ~$350 to rent them for weekend seminars.

The pay is good for a student, I started at $19 an hour and I'm making $23.50 now. All my travel expenses are covered including my daily commute to and from work, plus I get paid from when I leave class until I get home. No benefits, but at 23 I'm still covered by my parents. I still do some work on the side when I get the chance, mostly purchasing tech for a finders fee for friends of the family, people I know, etc. Its good work but the pace is slow compared to the kitchen.

 

[NYSTrooper]

Originally posted by: codeyf

Originally posted by: cheapbidder01
First you explain to him how much consultants make. Maybe give him those numbers. Then you tell him that since you are not in that industry full time, you only desire $30/hour.

That should do it.

That's the best thing i've heard so far. Very good approach. Thank you!

If you say $30 an hour you better be ready to explain how you are going to save them enough money that it will be worthwhile to pay that much. Temp techs work for almost exactly half of that, and can do 95% of the job. They're readily replaceable if they don't like the one they get, and they can hire two for the price of you.

I got myself above temp tech pay by having EMT certification and being bilingual spanish speaker. When I first started I spent almost as much time on the road assisting with translating as I was in the office working on computers. The EMT cert is better to pad a restaurant resume, but the partner I interviewed with is type 2 diabetic so i got brownie points.

 

[Descartes]

There is a large distinction between a consultant and a contract employee, especially in IT. It sounds you will be operating as more of a contract support person than a consultant, and with that in mind I'd say your $30/hr rate is a bit too substantial. I am incorporated as a consultant, and I work with other consulting firms who bill out substantially more than $50/hr, but operating as a contract employee the rate (sometimes called a realization rate) is ~$50/hr. For what it's worth, I consult primarily for software mentoring, analysis, development, etc. Only you can really determine what you're worth, but this site might help you determine what others have determined.

If you have any questions on what it means to be a consultant/contractor, how to handle taxes, etc., feel free to PM me.

 

[NYSTrooper]

Originally posted by: Descartes
There is a large distinction between a consultant and a contract employee, especially in IT. It sounds you will be operating as more of a contract support person than a consultant, and with that in mind I'd say your $30/hr rate is a bit too substantial. I am incorporated as a consultant, and I work with other consulting firms who bill out substantially more than $50/hr, but operating as a contract employee the rate (sometimes called a realization rate) is ~$50/hr. For what it's worth, I consult primarily for software mentoring, analysis, development, etc. Only you can really determine what you're worth, but this site might help you determine what others have determined.

If you have any questions on what it means to be a consultant/contractor, how to handle taxes, etc., feel free to PM me.

A consultant does the design/modifies a current design and a contractor implements it. I can tell you two things about real estate agents:

1) They don't give a damn about design, all they care about is if you can do it and when. In all of our offices we maybe have 2 people I could speak geek with, the rest are clueless. They will stand there and shake their head and sign off on anything if they trust you meanwhile they don't have a clue what it will really do.

2) All they care about is closing. If you consult on a system that interupts their functioning enough to miss just one closing, even if its some stupid agent who can't remember thier new password to get a phone number because your new email system requires more than 8 alphanumeric and they can't remember beyond 6 it will be the last day you work for them. Never, never, NEVER consider doing anything to their system that has even a remote chance of halting a close. Always do your systems in tandem IE old webpage works until everyone has been using new webpage for a month.

 

[mpitts]

This is exactly what I do.

I work for a small (I am employee #3) IT consulting firm. The company has been in business for ten years and we have around 100 active clients (some moreso than others).

My advice to you is to find out what they are charging their clients before you determine what you should be getting paid. I can tell you from experience that I defintely make more than the $30/hr. you have been talking about.

Don't listen to the people here who say you should settle for $15/hr. Being an IT consultant is a LOT different than working on a helpdesk or being a LAN admin (I have tons of experience doing both). A consultant is like a hired gun that is supposed to come in, fix problems and know answers to questions when people ask them. If you have as much experience as you say you do and you have a good personality, it will probably be a great job. Being a consultant means culturing relationships with your clients as much as it does knowing what you are doing technically. Most of the tech guys I know aren't exactly outgoing and personable and would SUCK as consultants.

It is one of the best jobs I have ever had. I make my own schedule, I meet with my two bosses once a week at Starbucks for coffee and to discuss how things are going, I office out of my house. It is great.

PM me if you have any questions.

 

[Rudee]

Originally posted by: codeyf

Originally posted by: cheapbidder01
First you explain to him how much consultants make. Maybe give him those numbers. Then you tell him that since you are not in that industry full time, you only desire $30/hour.

That should do it.

That's the best thing i've heard so far. Very good approach. Thank you!

Sounds like the dumbest approach I've heard. You don't explain anything.. Explaining yourself more often than not implies lack of confidence. What you do is firmly state what your rate will be. They will accept it or regect it. As long as you're not unreasonable this not that difficult of a process. What you don't do is nickel and dime them by telling them what others make and what you want. Sounds very unprofessional to me.

Case in point, if I had 2 painters offer to paint my living room and one of them said they would do it for $20 and hour. However, the other painter proceeds to give me this song and dance about how much professional painters make, thus we wants to know if $18 an hour is fair. Guess what, I'm going with the guy who charges the higher price simply because he sounds confident and doesn't nickel and dime.

BTW, consultants are experts in thier fields with years of experience. Like somebody mentioned, what you are doing is more like contract work, not consulting. Consulting is something you get into after 15+ years of direct experience. Something of high value. Occasional IT Support type work is not the stuff you would "consult".

 

[Aztech]

Man, these jobs sound like my dream jobs. I'm not qualified though. I have an electrical engineering degree, but I've done no engineering. I've done lots of computer tech stuff, like upgrades, troubleshooting, etc. and I know about Anandtech. What's my path to these type of jobs, i.e. how do I get there from here? Certifications? Sorry to go off topic, but reading about these jobs got me excited and curious. Thanks.

 

[codeyf]

You guys need to realize that the "consultant" part of this is temporary till they get rid of their existing guy. I agree what I'm doing is not "consulting" in the true definition of the word. However, unless you want to call it a 15+ year contract, it's far from that as well.

Only reason I'm using this word is that it is what THEY used. This is not a big corporation, but it's no mom and pop either.

 

[codeyf]

Originally posted by: Aztech
Man, these jobs sound like my dream jobs. I'm not qualified though. I have an electrical engineering degree, but I've done no engineering. I've done lots of computer tech stuff, like upgrades, troubleshooting, etc. and I know about Anandtech. What's my path to these type of jobs, i.e. how do I get there from here? Certifications? Sorry to go off topic, but reading about these jobs got me excited and curious. Thanks.

These days, it's such a crap shoot that your best bet is knowing someone/networking. Case in point, my grandma just started at this agency. She had come from another big name agency, and noticed some short-comings as far as IT support. In bringing this up with the owner, he made it clear that he definitely had a need that he did not feel could be met by the person currently supporting them. She brought me up, talked me up with him and some other people around the office. She then made an appointment for him to meet with me. Which brings us to where I'm at now.

 

[Garion]

A few things to keep in mind here.

The word "consultant" is too general of a term. Are you going to be paid as an employee of the company, where they will deal with all the tax and withholdings and give you benefits or are they just going to cut you a check every week and let you deal with the overhead?

If you're going to be an employee of the company, then the rate will be lower, but that's OK. You take the check, deposit and you're done. With a more "contractor" job, you'll have to deal with all your own taxes, decide what you're going to do about a business license, benefits, etc. Not fun. However, it will likely net you 20%-30% more, but it's more risky in that it's easier to fire a contractor than it is an employee.

Given the scope of duties, I'd expect that you'd make somewhere around $25-$30/hr as an employee and at least $40/hr as a contractor. That's a fair wage for Seattle (where I also live, coincidentally).

And, on your $80K+ average in the job survey - Most "consultants" are heavy-hitters who are brought into companies for a particular job - i.e., deploy a new accounting application, re-design the network, security audits, etc. They usually aren't generalists. If you want a better job title, I'd aim for something like System Administrator - That's a better jack-of-all-trades title.

- G

 

[Freejack2]

Unless I missed something no one has mentioned that 40% of what you earn as a consultant goes to taxes. You can cut that down some by deducting any computer equipment you purchase to use in the business, car expenses, and a home office. Still these are operating expenses.

Pretty much expect that if you are charging them $40 an hour, $16 of that goes to Uncle Sam and expenses. So that means you take home $24 an hour after all is said and done. Keep that in mind when you quote a rate.

Oh, and like people are saying go in showing you know what you are doing. When your customers start yelling, showing confidence in what you can do and getting it done goes a loooong way in making sure they keep you.

 

[Descartes]

Originally posted by: Garion
A few things to keep in mind here.

The word "consultant" is too general of a term. Are you going to be paid as an employee of the company, where they will deal with all the tax and withholdings and give you benefits or are they just going to cut you a check every week and let you deal with the overhead?

If you're going to be an employee of the company, then the rate will be lower, but that's OK. You take the check, deposit and you're done. With a more "contractor" job, you'll have to deal with all your own taxes, decide what you're going to do about a business license, benefits, etc. Not fun. However, it will likely net you 20%-30% more, but it's more risky in that it's easier to fire a contractor than it is an employee.

Given the scope of duties, I'd expect that you'd make somewhere around $25-$30/hr as an employee and at least $40/hr as a contractor. That's a fair wage for Seattle (where I also live, coincidentally).

And, on your $80K+ average in the job survey - Most "consultants" are heavy-hitters who are brought into companies for a particular job - i.e., deploy a new accounting application, re-design the network, security audits, etc. They usually aren't generalists. If you want a better job title, I'd aim for something like System Administrator - That's a better jack-of-all-trades title.

- G

You have it backwards. If you're a consultant, you are almost never an employee. If you are a contractor, then there's a possibility that you'll be an employee, but many choose the 1099 route.

 

[codeyf]

Obviously, I'm not 100% clear on what the "consulting" part will entail as far as my status with the company. That is something I hope to gain further clarification on when I speak with them in the next couple days. However this is for a short period of time (also needs clarification, 2-3 weeks? months?).

However, once they have fully released the existing guy, I will be full-time, employee of the agency.

They kind of brushed on part of the pay issue on friday. In that I would receive my salary from them, however the "consulting" would be for the agents. I would bill the agent ($50/hr was their example) of which I would keep some ($10 was their example) as "incentive" and the rest would go to the agency.