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[SOLVED] How Much Do You Personally Make as a Web Developer?


Fluoresce

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I'm an internet marketer. I construct relatively simple Web sites to see through my marketing activities.

 

Recently, I've started to hone my Web development skills with the aim of also becoming a full-blown Web developer. With that in mind, I wanted to ask a few quick questions.

 

[*]How much do you, as a pro Web developer, actually make?

[*]How much can a pro Web developer potentially make?

[*]What might the salary be of a pro Web developer if employed by a respectable company?

[*]Is there more money in freelance Web development?

[*]I am quite rehearsed in XHTML and CSS. I am also learning JavaScript, PHP and MySQL. What other languages should I set my sights on?

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The term "pro web developer" is rather ambiguous. I regard someone as a "professional" if they do it for a living, or in other words if it's their profession. But that doesn't necessarily mean they're good. I only do occasional freelance web development and consulting. Am I a professional? Regardless, I'd like to think I'm somewhat good though. I could, but won't, mention a few full-time web developers who I regard myself better than. Are they then professionals, or rather, does professional have any relevance regarding competence. Either way, how much you will earn depends on your skill level, sometimes your location, and on how good you are at negotiating and selling yourself. Some people charge more than they're worth, and some less (in my opinion anyways). I usually charge per hour, and I negotiate it on a per-project basis. I don't work full time though, but only whenever I have time though.

 

You might earn more money working for a company than working freelance. If you work for a company, then you have a steady income, but there are other people who want a bite of the cake as well. If you work freelance then all the revenue goes to you alone (unless you hire sub-contractors of course), but you might sometimes find it difficult getting any projects to work on. Both types of jobs have upsides and downsides, but it's entirely up to you to determine which one is best for you.

 

Strictly speaking you don't need to "know" more languages than the ones you listed, but knowing more will of course always help, and it will broaden your horizons making you a better programmer overall. It also depends on what "knowing" e.g. MySQL entails. Does it mean being able to construct simple database schemas and do basic CRUD, or does it mean knowing advanced database theory and being able to make normalized and highly efficient database setups? That field is large enough in itself that you could focus on it alone, and competent DBAs are generally very well paid, because it turns out that designing databases properly is actually difficult and requires a lot of knowledge.

 

Edit: Fixed grammar, courtesy of Masna.

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An insightful response, Daniel0, but I still have no idea as to how well of a living a Web developer might make. I realise that it depends on a lot of things, which is why I will settle for generalities.

 

If you don't mind my asking, how much do you personally make?

 

And if you, personally, were to work full-time for a company, how much would you expect to be paid?

 

I just want to get a general feel for how well a Web developer's living might be.

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If you don't mind my asking, how much do you personally make?

 

I'd rather not publicly disclose that actually. Not so much because I regard income as a personal matter, but more due to strategic reasons. If I post some number somewhere then someone might end up saying "but you said X on this and that website". This makes negotiations more difficult.

 

And if you, personally, were to work full-time for a company, how much would you expect to be paid?

 

Based on what I have charged on freelance projects and assuming a 37 hour work week, which is the standard in Denmark, and four weeks per month, at least $60,000/yr. I definitely think I would be worth that. Do take things like location into account though. It's entirely possible that people generally are paid higher (or lower) in Denmark than where you are from, so unless you live near me it's probably not of much use to you. I don't even want to work full-time in web development though. I'm more interested in academia to be honest.

 

I could, but won't, mention a few full-time web developers who I regard myself better as.

 

Don't you mean, "...who I regard myself as better than"?

 

Just saying. :)

 

I guess so :P

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A better response, Daniel0.

 

I, too, am an academic. I am a palaeobiologist.

 

At the moment, I am taking a couple of years off to make some money. I will hopefully get back to my research and PhD very soon.

 

 

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You're taking a couple of years off as a palaeobiologist to make money as a web developer?

 

 

 

I would expect a palaeobiologist to make more, but perhaps work is short, or I'm just assuming that because it's a big word.  Hehe.

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You're taking a couple of years off as a palaeobiologist to make money as a web developer?

 

I would expect a palaeobiologist to make more, but perhaps work is short, or I'm just assuming that because it's a big word.  Hehe.

 

At the moment, I only have a master's degree in palaeobiology. I need to get a PhD if I want to become a proper palaeobiologist. The thing is, I need some cash before I can begin, which is why I'm currently trying internet marketing and Web development.

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Aren't PhD students paid where you are from? In Denmark it's regarded as a job and the PhD students are actually employed by the university. I was only able to find this which says anywhere the salary is from $55,541/yr to $67,075 excluding pension, or $63,213/yr to $76,423/yr including pension. It's from DTU (Technical University of Denmark), but it should be the same at all the other universities, because as far as I know it's based on government paygrades.

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Aren't PhD students paid where you are from? In Denmark it's regarded as a job and the PhD students are actually employed by the university. I was only able to find this which says anywhere the salary is from $55,541/yr to $67,075 excluding pension, or $63,213/yr to $76,423/yr including pension. It's from DTU (Technical University of Denmark), but it should be the same at all the other universities, because as far as I know it's based on government paygrades.

 

I'm from London. I got my MSci degree at UCL (University College London).

 

Here in the UK, PhD students are not employed by the university as such. As far as I understand it, the university is allocated fees by the government which it shares out among its PhD students. The amount varies from year to year. In most instances, the amount given to each student just about covers the research that s/he must conduct. It's not like having a job or anything like that.

 

Hmmm . . . Maybe I'll be better off doing a PhD in Denmark! ;D

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