Hourly rate for security consulting
I have an hourly rate question. I have two years SAP Security experience in 4.7. I am bored with production support so I am trying to get a job with one of the big five consulting firms. What would be the appropriate hourly rate I could expect to charge, $45 to $55 an hour? Thanks.

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I don't get rate questions all that often, but they're always fun to take a stab at. I would say the rate range you quoted is just about right, but you might be able to make a bit more than that since SAP skills are in demand right now. One thing I am not clear on is whether you are applying to the Big Four as a salaried consultant or if you are just hoping to subcontract to them.

On a salaried basis, your rate might be more like $40 an hour. But of course when you take a "perm" job, you have to consider the entire benefits package, including health care, instead of simply calculating an hourly rate. You say you are "bored with production support," and I can totally understand that, but you'll want to keep that line to yourself during interviews. :) You can spin this into your desire to seek challenging projects without too much problem. Just don't downgrade your current experience too much, you need to try to package your current role as a good building block for your skills and not just a dead end.

This was first published in March 2005

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