At time it happens that we are without a job or looking for a change. Even though we really want to work, we are not clear on the rates we should ask for. The result is when someone offers us what they feel is right, we consider it below our standards and choose not to do that work. In the process we remain without any work and the gap goes on increasing, thus compounding the problem further.
When people don’t have something, they complain about it. When they finally get it, they take things for granted.
It is natural for humans to not value what they have.
So, if you want your dream career, please be clear on how much you want to make. Then, find out who are the other people making this much money. Next, figure out how they’re making it. Let me explain that with an example.
The cake shop near my home sells half pound chocolate truffle cake for Rs.500. Say I want to make and sell the same thing for Rs. 1000, that is double the price.
What would I do in this case? I will do some research on which are the type of shops who charge this much price. Then I’ll observe, what makes them command such rates? I will try to reverse engineer the whole experience. Like, do they offer premium dine-in experience with waiters knowing English language? Do they use high quality raw materials, and make their customers know about it? How do they pack for take-away? As a diner, do I feel I’m getting enough value for my money? Like this I’ll have to analyse a few aspects, to figure out how they justify their asking rates.
We can use the same analogy for freelancing work as well. There are programmers who charge $5 an hour and also there are those who charge $100. Find and study the profiles of those people on freelancing platforms, whose rates you wish to command. Is it dependent on their location? Does it depend on work experience or technologies they know? How have they presented themselves? Make a blueprint of what you can offer to prospective employers, that they’ll pay you this much amount.
Stand out in the crowd.
Be very clear on why someone should hire you instead of all others. Have some exclusivity, if there’s a lot of competition in your field. Say I think from the point of view of an employer, who wants to hire a ReactJS developer, then market has lots of them for me. If two people pitch to me with the same rates, then I’ll see who has a better style of programming, uploaded code on GitHub, has experience on projects which are useful for me, and can communicate well. I will go with the one that I consider better for my professional needs.
Ask what you really want, and justify your rates.
Always be clear on how much money you want to make, and then find out how others are charging that much amount. Just because you want to charge more than others, people will not give you, unless you prove it to them that you have the required capability. Your past achievements will not matter as much as your current skill set.
If you cannot do this much research then meet your prospective employer, give them a presentation on what you can do for them, and how they will grow from this. Do it properly, and you will likely get a fair offer.
Yaju Arya Dot Com 