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mommy111
10-01-2009, 01:12 AM
I applied to an online consulting firm that reviews papers in my field of work for technical errors. My usual consulting rates, albeit for original technical advice on the phone or by videoconference, run at $300/hr (when I did consult, not very often). For reviewing papers, which is a different line of work altogether, they are offering me $25/hr. They say it will be negotiable after a month. Is this typical or are they lowballing me? And any ideas about what I should ask for after a month?
TIA for your help, esp if you've BTDT.

mommy111
10-01-2009, 10:44 AM
Bumping. In case any one has an answer.

egoldber
10-01-2009, 10:53 AM
That's lowball. My DH (a consultant) has varying rates depending on what the task is, but $25 is not even close to reasonable for someone who otherwise could be making $300 an hour.

jenmcadams
10-01-2009, 12:12 PM
I don't have any particular technical expertise...I'm a former business strategy consultant who has worked with a number of small, venture back start-ups. My low-end consulting fee was more in the range of $75-80 an hour (and that was for a former employer who was notoriously cheap with consultants). On average, when I did consulting work on my own, it was in the $110-150/hour range. Often times, I did fixed-price contracts though.

I do have a friend who stays home, but is an MD (pediatrician) and she occasionally reviews papers and gets paid in the $150/hour range I think.

So, definitely seems low to me, but depending on how unique your skill set is and what the employment situation in your industry is like, you may have to come pretty far off your normal fees.

LBW
10-01-2009, 12:38 PM
If I understand correctly, what you would be doing is fact checking. The rate they offered is on the low end of a basic fact checking pay range, but not completely unreasonable. Do they need you to simply identify the errors or are you being asked to also provide corrections and source material? Are you being asked to verify every fact in the articles (that can mean hours and hours of painstaking research)? Or just read and verify major facts based on your own knowledge? I'd negotiate for more $$ based on the answers to those questions.

ett
10-01-2009, 02:23 PM
If I understand correctly, what you would be doing is fact checking. The rate they offered is on the low end of a basic fact checking pay range, but not completely unreasonable. Do they need you to simply identify the errors or are you being asked to also provide corrections and source material? Are you being asked to verify every fact in the articles (that can mean hours and hours of painstaking research)? Or just read and verify major facts based on your own knowledge? I'd negotiate for more $$ based on the answers to those questions.

I agree. Depending on what you will be doing, the rate may not be completely unreasonable. So you probably cannot compare it to how much you can get if you were doing private consulting. I have a friend that does this in the biology field. I do not know how much she gets paid for it but I don't think it's in the hundreds/hour.

ThreeofUs
10-01-2009, 04:12 PM
Hugely lowball, imho, if you're doing anything that requires expertise. If this is a job that anyone can do - and I'm not trying to disparage you or them in any way, then the fee might be low to start and going up to something reasonable for that level of skill (but not much higher) if you work out.

But it does sound like you have considerable expertise. Are you selling yourself short with this job, or do you see it as an entry stepping-stone back into the field?

mommy111
10-02-2009, 12:18 AM
Thank you all for the replies...the job is for a University here in Beijing (but through a US firm), they do some very good research but have a hard time publishing in international journals. My work is reviewing the papers in my area of expertise, giving suggestions about making them more publishable, and I suspect a large part of it will be not the research but the writing (English, structure of paper etc). Of course the higher end consulting jobs that I've had were giving technical advice/sharing expertise in particular areas or reviewing legal papers (which tends to run higher even that that rate) but of course that is also very much more demanding work. The rate that I had thought was maybe appropriate was the $150/hr rate that someone had mentioned above, but I've never done this before so I don't know what is typical.
Ivy, not an entry/getting a foothold job, I'm just doing this to make some extra income, and I'm trying to figure out at what level of reimbursement is it just not worth it, because it means time not spent with kids/sleeping etc. I would probably be OK if it was in the $60-80 an hour rate.
If anyone has any other input, pls share :) Otherwise I am just thinking of emailing them to let them know that this is not really worth it.

ett
10-02-2009, 12:33 AM
DH said that $25/hour is pretty low but wonders if it's low because it's in China. $25 goes a lot farther in China than in the US and I'm sure the US firm knows that.

mommy111
10-02-2009, 12:37 AM
DH said that $25/hour is pretty low but wonders if it's low because it's in China. $25 goes a lot farther in China than in the US and I'm sure the US firm knows that.
Not really :p About they know its in China. Cause its an online position and I applied when I was in the US and I don't think they asked or I mentioned that I was going to China, it just didn't come up.

citymama
10-02-2009, 02:13 AM
Sounds like a major lowball to me, even without knowing your field of work.

ThreeofUs
10-02-2009, 06:13 AM
Ivy, not an entry/getting a foothold job, I'm just doing this to make some extra income, and I'm trying to figure out at what level of reimbursement is it just not worth it, because it means time not spent with kids/sleeping etc. I would probably be OK if it was in the $60-80 an hour rate.


Sounds reasonable to me! Why don't you tell them the rate is very low for you and make them an offer: they pay you to do one job at $30 or something more per hour, as a "trial". If they like your work, they move you to $60 immediately, with set raises.

That would at least start a negotiation. So you might get them up to $50 quickly, and thence up into your range in a few months....

GL!

mommy111
10-02-2009, 06:56 AM
Sounds reasonable to me! Why don't you tell them the rate is very low for you and make them an offer: they pay you to do one job at $30 or something more per hour, as a "trial". If they like your work, they move you to $60 immediately, with set raises.

That would at least start a negotiation. So you might get them up to $50 quickly, and thence up into your range in a few months....

GL!

Thank you for the negotiating suggestions....I am such a bad negotiator, I would never know how to approach it and would just have told them its not worth it for me.
I will use those suggestions and try my hand at negotiating :)

egoldber
10-02-2009, 06:59 AM
FWIW, I would be leery quoting them a rate that you are not willing to continue working at. IME they are not going to be willing to increase your rate once they have hired you on. Spell out any sort of graduated pay rate in GREAT detail in the contract.

spunkybaby
10-02-2009, 12:00 PM
FWIW, I would be leery quoting them a rate that you are not willing to continue working at. IME they are not going to be willing to increase your rate once they have hired you on. Spell out any sort of graduated pay rate in GREAT detail in the contract.

I agree. From their perspective, going from $25/hour to $50/hour is a "100% raise." Once you start working for a company, even on a contract basis, it's *really* difficult to get raises because you've set a low anchoring point in their mind. They may think that a 10% annual raise is pretty good, but that will only be $27.50/hour for you.

If it were me and I was willing to take $60-$80/hour, I would tell them $80/hour and be willing to go down to $60/hour if they try to negotiate. Obviously, if you really need the money, then it's a different situation, but if it's just extra $$, think about what your skills and time are worth to you.

mommy111
10-02-2009, 10:10 PM
Beth and Spunkybaby, thank you for the suggestions. It really is only for extra money, and the opportunity cost of being away from my kids or my free time is too much at the $24 or thereabouts level. I will update you guys as to what heppens.