Hey programmers? Any experience on switching from full time to consulting?

March 16, 2005 1:12 PM

After 5 years working my full time corporate programming day job I'm almost ready to give up the security to spend the majority of my time on exciting non-profit open source projects. But for various reasons I want to keep the corporate job on a consulting basis. Any advice on how to negotiate going from full time to part time?

As far as corporate jobs go, it doesn't get much better than the job I have. I love the people I work with, I get a lot of respect for the work that I do, I get paid well with good benefits, and the majority of the time I love the work. But I just can't justify giving them full time hours any more. The fruits of my labors are mostly used to monetize the company's product, rather than give our users more features.

So I want to switch where the majority of my hours are used to save the world but I can still continue to pick up some hours at the cushy friendly corporate job. Partly because I enjoy working with the people, partly for financial security, and partly as a safety net in case working for friends (more on that below) doesn't go as well as I hope.

Luckily enough I have already found opportunities with friends (friends who i've worked on volunteer projects with over the last year and a half) who run small non-profit open-source technology collectives/companies so the only thing to do now is the final negotiations with the day job. I've talked to my mid-manager boss and my department manager boss, (both of whom i've worked with for over 4 years and have great relationships) and they are both on my side. The only hurdle left is negotiating with the CTO (who unfortnuately is newish and not my favorite member of the company)

So here are my questions:

1. What is the best way to negotiate hours? I'd like to work anywhere from 8 hours a week to 20 hours a week, but since the new opportunities I have are still being defined I'm not really sure how much time those are going to take up, even though they will offer a lot of flexibility. Is it better to try to come up with a schedule for the hours, or just a number of hours per week?

2. What is a good hourly rate (for the corporate job)? I have 5 years experience with the same company doing mostly interface level Java with lots of JSP usage. There are a couple areas where I am the resident expert and have been for years. How does $40 an hour sound? I definitely don't want to ask for the moon as I'm much more interested in sticking around then making tons of money but also don't want to be screwed.

3. Any other hints on the negotiations? I'm good with consensus type meetings but really have no experience in hard boiled negotiations (which this might or might not turn out to be.)

posted by lips to work & money (6 comments total)

i negotiated home working, and a friend of mine negotiated half hours, with nothing more than a polite ultimatum. just explain that you want to do other things too, but that you don't want to leave completely. if they value you as an employee they'll be eager to have half of you rather than nothing at all.
posted by andrew cooke at 1:35 PM on March 16, 2005

don't forget to factor in the cost of health insurance on your own.

I did it (originally freelancer, then permanent, and now back as freelancer), but i was the only one who knew how to do everything, and am loved (and lucky) : >

If there are other people there who can do what you do, be prepared for a "No." I would tho, show them how valuable you've been in the past, and that it would actually save them money while still keeping you around and happy and contributing. It's a chance, but worth it if you have other stuff in the wings.
posted by amberglow at 1:49 PM on March 16, 2005

And don't forget to point out one of the biggest upsides for them: The work you do outside of the company will add to your skills and give you a new perspective on things. Projects that you're currently working on can benefit greatly from this, not to mention the fact that you could find new avenues for company growth and profitability.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 2:57 PM on March 16, 2005

yup. it's win-win for them too, but you have to sell them on that fact.
posted by amberglow at 4:19 PM on March 16, 2005

Re #2 above: Take your old salary (yearly), divide it by 1000, and that's your hourly rate as an outside consultant. (Give yourself a little raise if you think you deserve it.) It's called the "divide-by-1000" rule. Takes into account the transfer of overhead (office space, equipment, insurance, workers comp., etc.) from them to you.

And what andrew cooke said about the negotiating.
posted by bricoleur at 5:07 AM on March 17, 2005

Thanks everybody, appreciate it. I was pretty much approaching it in the ways you described, i just needed some encouragement. I'm just uncomfortable negotiating with the new guy, rather than people I worked side by side with for years.

cheers
posted by lips at 7:43 AM on March 17, 2005