Paid by the hour. How much should I ask for?

[iambanana]

For the past weeks, I've been doing some work for an IT-company. Doing pretty technical cartoons to explain what their products are for. Then they hand the cartoons out to clients. Thing is, I'm being paid by the hour, and this being my first paid gig, I have no clue as to what to expect pay-wise.

They just won't simply give me a set amount. They've asked me what I think is fair.

So my question is as follows;

How much should I ask for? And keep in mind, this is my first paid job, so I can't exactly brag about being the best in the industry either.

[Line]

Maybe this can help? http://www.gag.org/ Still, be carefull about how to handle this, don't ask for too little, they have money. :)

[J Wilson]

Paid by the hour isn't usually the way artist's get paid. Paid by the project is more typical, because how long art takes differs from artist to artist. Typically a better artist might be faster (due to experience), in which case pay would become inverse to skill, making less money the better you get.

Even if hourly was a reasonable way to pay artists, it would still differ from place to place, because what is a small sum of money in one location might be a whole ton of money somewhere else. I'm not sure you'd get a meaningful number from us.

My suggestion would be to really think about how much work this is going to be (likely a lot of work if it's technical like you mentioned), and figure out a rate of pay you'd feel is fair. Keep in mind this is specialized work with skills not everyone has. Then take that number that you'd be happy with and pad it by an amount (maybe 20%). It's always a good idea to shoot a little higher than you'd be happy because A) you might get it, and B) it gives them room to talk you down without you feeling like it's more work than it's worth. NEVER under bid because you are afraid of scaring the client away. If you DO scare them away, then you likely didn't want to work with them anyways.

If you really want the job, and I'm guessing you do as it's a first paid gig, there are ways to lower your price without sounding like you just caved in.
"Well, I suppose I have some time in my schedule at the moment. I can probably fit it in for a little less than I'd normally like."
or, "I would normally ask for more, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to have something like this in my portfolio to round it out." Or something else along those lines, because in all honesty those ARE reasons why you might occasionally take a smaller fee.

[CesarNostradamus]

I had previously worked at a small game company for 6 months at 10 dollars an hour.
In your case, or in anyones case - Being grateful to be producing artwork and getting paid for it' is a sign of hope from the whole struggling artist aspect of life.

I know how you maybe struggling with this factor as much as your employees do. But for your sake, stay the course, produce the artwork they have hired you for, and get some Art done.

[pitabread]

For the past weeks, I've been doing some work for an IT-company. Doing pretty technical cartoons to explain what their products are for. Then they hand the cartoons out to clients. Thing is, I'm being paid by the hour, and this being my first paid gig, I have no clue as to what to expect pay-wise.

They just won't simply give me a set amount. They've asked me what I think is fair.

Am I reading this right? You've been working for them for weeks without deciding on a rate beforehand?

Anyway, one way to figure it out is to look at entry level salaries for illustrators in your area (city, state, whatever). Then divide that by 50 weeks of the year and divide again by the average working hours in a week (37.5 is pretty typical). That will give you an hourly rate. Then, since you are working at a contractor and have to cover your own expenses, benefits, etc, top it up by at least 10-20%.

[Jem'ennuie]

This is why I have stopped doing freelance in the summer. You can never agree on a price, it's cumbersome, it's like haggling on the streets, there's absolutely no standard. For some things it's just retarted to come to an agreement.
Since I'm still in school I only work in vacations, but I only to go companies who actually hire people, and rate me like a normal human being, aka, per month or week. Not per work or per hour.

If anything is going to put me off art it will be that, I got really distressed by that because some treat you fair an others don't, and you never know what they exactly want from you or how long you'll be working for them. It distressed my roommate too because I could never say when I would have free time.

Sorry, this doesn't help you at all, but I really hated being hired on a per work basis, I don't know why..lack of security?..maybe, not sure. /sniff

Having some people and an employer who takes care of me and makes sure I have the tools I need and comes ask how I'm doing from time to time and provides me with a place to work means so much more to me than getting paid a lot.

[Elwell]

Am I reading this right? You've been working for them for weeks without deciding on a rate beforehand?

My thoughts exactly.

[CesarNostradamus]

OOOR..... YOU CAN.... Okay... Ive done this before..

You can. go into your boses office.. and look at the files of everyones individual pay. You will notice that there are alot of people like you who get the same rate of pay.

One of the things about, these companies.. they THRIVE ON SUCCESS, WITHOUT SUCCESSSSSSS Then there wont be a bigger wallet will there?

Listen Closely..

ITS YOUR WORK, IF IT HAS POTENTIAL FOR ITS GREATEST SUCCESS

YOU SHALL BE ENDEVOURED IN YOUR OWN WEALTH

IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS IN YOU TO VERY WELL BE ON YOUR WAY TO ACHIEVEMENT' TO DO GREATER THINGS THEREAFTER-

Im sure this company is thinking about there future Estate, rather than your own. Face it... And REally, feel Guilty about this as well... That We as a Species are Cruel all of us, and greedy... ALL of us...

For once, cant you Change That For you? For your people??

If this dosnt convince you, then I dont know what else dose.
But Garantee! you cannot make any lower than the law States.
And! Should you not be Greatful from what you recieve, Either how small or large the Funding maybe. YOU ARE AN ARTIST, STRUGGLE LIKE ONE

[HunterKiller_]

Dunno about Norway, but here in New Zealand, $25/hr is considered a standard rate.

[iambanana]

Thanks for all the replies people. Yes, you read it right. I've already completed two thirds of the total work. I knew a few of the guys in the company prior to the job, so things weren't so official and corporate-like as they maybe should've been.
What I've really been worried about is asking for too much and scaring them away, like some of you mentioned. And by 'scaring away' I obviously mean for future jobs. They're always out with new products and will probably want some cartoons for them as well.
Around 25 dollars is pretty standard pay for part-time jobs here in Norway. So you're saying I should add around 20% since this is a specialized job? Even though it's my first one and they know it?

[bleupencil]

http://freelanceswitch.com/rates/

[Sady]

$5-$10/hr here in Brazil.

Don´t even think of going below that.

One of my clients, and a friend, once told me that the right thing to do is to first think how much you will need in a month, than find out how many hours you will work in a month, and than do the math. Pretty obvious but works.