How much should I charge as a freelance web developer?

$10/hr for a web developer?

• I have been doing freelance web development for a couple of years now. I'm proficient in HTML/XHTML, Javascript, CSS, AJAX, PHP, MySQL, JQuery, and various content management systems like Joomla and Wordpress. I've been building websites for clients for nearly two years, and many of these were very complex (had to write tens of thousands of lines of code). So I walked into an interview today. It was a job listing on Craigslist for a web developer. No salary/wages were disclosed in the ad. Requirements for the job were 5 years of experience in HTML, CSS, Javascript, AJAX, and PHP. I applied and immediately was given a call back. He initially acted a little hesitant to consider me, as I only have two years of experience, but I explained that I've been writing software for nearly 10 years, and it would be worth his time to hire me. So I am at the interview, and he is explaining how his company works, and asks me some basic questions to test my knowledge (all of them were easy). Finally we get towards the end of the interview and we are discussing salary. He starts by stating that he currently works with developers in India who charge $5/hr, and that it's just not in the budget to pay much more than that. I told him I charge clients $35 per hour, and he acted like that was ridiculous. He gave me a best offer of $10/hr. I was pretty stunned and just said I'd have to think about it, but I didn't think I could afford to work for that low of pay. I don't know how common this is, but this is the second interview I've gone to where I was offered $10/hr for a software development job. Yes, I live in the US. I don't have a degree or anything, and I don't have any formal full time job experience with a company doing any sort of software development (though I've been doing freelance work as stated above), and this is the only place I could find that would hire me. Should I suck it up and work here for $10/hr for a year just to get enough experience so that I can get a decent job somewhere else?

• Answer:

  Your time is worth more than that (unless you're producing poor code :P) Even a junior developer without work experience is worth more. The mistake you're making is trying to find a serious job on Craigslist! There are plenty of sites for web developers to find jobs from serious employers, I wouldn't waste time on a company that is seeking a professional through posts on CL.