????親愛的安妮：有位朋友給我遞來你那篇討論自由職業者如何才能確保獲得報酬的專欄文章，我一直收藏著，以防哪一天我也碰到這類問題。但我的職業生涯目前還沒有發展到那個階段。我現在擁有一份全職工作，這幾年輾轉多家雇主之后，我已經在一個高度專業化的IT領域建立起了善于解決各種疑難雜癥的聲譽，其他公司現在常常給我打電話，想了解我能否利用業余時間為他們做一些項目。所以，我正考慮出去單干。問題是，我不知道如何確定收費方式和標準。按小時，按天，還是按項目？顧問究竟應該如何確定收費標準（比如每小時收多少錢）？——一位來自奧斯丁的焦慮者

????親愛的焦慮者：正如凱特?溫德爾頓所言，“收費標準無窮無盡，”這也難怪你毫無頭緒。身為全國職業咨詢網絡“五點鐘俱樂部”（The Five O'Clock Club）總裁的溫德爾頓這些年來既雇傭過許多顧問和自由職業者，也指導過不少自立門戶的專業人士。她說：“收費結構的變體幾乎是無限的?！?/p>

????例如，在一些領域，公司支付的是“成功費”（也就是說，“如果相關項目運轉良好，你會獲得一大筆報酬，但如果項目搞砸了，你就沒有任何報酬，”溫德爾頓說）或者某種修改版本，比如，有一種成功費有最低酬勞保證，無論結果如何?！叭绻阏谂c一家初創公司合作，你或許會同意收取以股票形式支付的報酬，”溫德爾頓說?！捌渌Ｒ姷膱蟪臧才虐A付聘金，傭金，銷售額提成。如果你的工作是主持研討會，那就可以按人頭計算。當然還可以按小時，按天計算酬勞，或者采用上述方式的某種組合?！?/p>

????聽起來很復雜，但決定服務價格的基本因素通常只有兩個。首先是市場的承受能力，尤其是當你只是剛剛起步的時候。為避免要價過低或者提出超過客戶愿意支付額度的要價，溫德爾頓建議，“最好先了解一下，在你所在的行業，像你這種專業水準通常收取多少費用?！?/p>

????如果你在IT顧問圈內沒有熟人，沒辦法打聽行情，你可以問問你所在公司的同事，甚至可以向老同事詢問相關信息。你還可以在商務社交網站 LinkedIn上搜尋IT咨詢費用的大致范圍以及典型的收費結構。溫德爾頓建議，尤其有必要向你所在領域那些經常聘請顧問的經理人討教，了解他們通常采用的付費方式和標準。

????你需要弄清楚的第二件事情是你自己的開銷，即你需要賺取多少顧問費才能收回成本。溫德爾頓列舉了這樣一道數學題：先用你目前的工資加上獎金（為了舉例方便起見，我們假定你每年的工資加獎金為5萬美元），再加上這一數字的20%——這是你目前的雇主為你支付的醫療保險和工資稅。用計算結果（6萬美元）除以你合理預期的年均工作小時。每年需要剔除包括節日在內的10個休息日，以及4周的假期和病休時間，所以溫德爾頓建議把每年的有效工作時間確定為1,600小時。

????然后用6萬美元除以1,600小時，計算出時薪為37.50美元。這就是你的開銷。溫德爾頓指出，這一數值僅僅與你目前的收入持平。但你的計算還沒完。你不僅有可能無法全部完成這1,600小時的工作時間，而且必須運營你自己的辦公室，購買你自己的醫療保險，全額支付社保金，積攢一些度假開銷，充實退休計劃資金儲備，還需支付目前由你的雇主承擔的其他費用。

????這就是為什么溫德爾頓認為，“確定短期咨詢費的經驗法則是，你的小時費率應該是成本的兩倍?！本臀覀冋谟懻摰倪@個例子而言，小時費率應該是37.50美元的兩倍，即75.00美元。一旦你計算好你的小時費率，你就可以用它作為基準來設定你的收費額度。例如，一位潛在客戶有一個估計需要花費你120個小時的項目。如果按照小時費率75.00美元來計算，你的要價將是9000美元。

????“請記住，有人會判定你是否值這個價，但其中有很大的靈活性，”溫德爾頓說?！叭绻€有許多人能夠以更低的收費完成你的工作，招聘經理就會從中隨便挑選一位。另一方面，如果你的技能獨一無二，而且很受歡迎，特別是如果你是某一領域的知名專家，客戶往往愿意支付高于現行市價的報酬?！?/p>

????有時候會獲得高得多的報酬：溫德爾頓認識一對獨立顧問，他們每人都有兩個大客戶，每周為每家公司工作兩天，每年向每家公司收取10萬美元的固定報酬。這兩位顧問“都在各自的領域耕耘多年，擁有豐富的經驗，完全配得上這筆酬勞的每一分錢，”她補充說?！叭绻阕约旱穆殬I生涯能夠發展到這個程度，那倒不失為一種不錯的謀生方式?！?/p>

????反饋：如果你已經開始獨立從事顧問工作，你怎樣確定收費標準？請在下面留言評論。（財富中文網）

????譯者：葉寒

????Dear Annie: A friend sent me your column about how to make sure you get paid if you're freelance, and I'm holding on to it just in case that becomes an issue. But I'm not quite at that stage yet. Right now, I have a full-time job but, after several years moving around among a few different employers, I've built a reputation as a troubleshooter in a highly specialized area of IT, to the point where people at other companies now are calling me to see if I would do projects for them on the side. So I'm thinking about going out on my own as a consultant. The thing is, I have no idea how or what to charge for my services. By the hour, by the day, or per project? And how do consultants decide how much to charge (per hour, for example)? -- Antsy in Austin

????Dear A.A.: It's no wonder you're in the dark about this since "the variety is endless," says Kate Wendleton. As head of national career-counseling network the Five O'Clock Club, Wendleton has both hired her share of consultants and freelancers over the years and coached people who have put out their own shingles. "There are almost infinite variations on fee structures," she notes.

????For instance, in some fields, companies pay a "success fee" (where, "if the project works, you get a big payday -- but if it doesn't, you don't," Wendleton says), or a modified version, like a success fee with a guaranteed minimum you earn regardless of the outcome. "If you're working with a startup, you might agree to be paid in stock," says Wendleton. "Other common arrangements are retainer, commission, percent of sales, per head if you're running seminars, or, of course, per hour or per day -- or some combination of the above."

????As complicated as that sounds, two basic factors will determine how you price your services. The first is what the market will bear, especially when you're just starting out. To avoid either underpricing yourself or charging more than clients are willing to pay, "find out what the standard fees are in your industry, at your level of expertise," Wendleton suggests.

????If you don't know any IT consultants well enough to inquire about this, you might ask around at your own company, and maybe even in the places where you've worked before. You could also ask people on LinkedIn for a general range of IT consulting fees and how they're typically structured. In particular, Wendleton advises, find out from managers in your field who routinely hire consultants what, and how, they typically pay them.

????The second thing you need to figure out is your own overhead, or how much you'd need to earn as a consultant in order to cover your costs. Wendleton lays out the math like this: Take your current salary plus bonus, which we'll say just for the sake of this example is $50,000 per year, and add about 20% for the health insurance and payroll taxes your employer now pays. Then take that $60,000 and divide it by the number of hours you can reasonably expect to work in a year. To figure in 10 days off, including holidays, and four weeks of vacation and sick time annually, Wendleton recommends using 1,600 hours as your guideline.

????Next, divide $60,000 by 1,600, and you arrive at an hourly figure of $37.50. That's your overhead, which Wendleton notes is what it will take just to stay even with what you're now making. But you're not finished yet. Not only is it possible you won't work every one of those 1,600 hours, but you still have to run your own office, buy your own health insurance, pay 100% of your Social Security, put money aside for vacations, fund your own retirement plan, and cover any other costs your employer now bears.

????That's why, Wendleton says, "the rule of thumb for short-term consulting fees is, your hourly rate should be twice your cost" -- in the example we're using, two times $37.50, or $75.00. Once you've arrived at your hourly rate, you can use it as a benchmark to set your fees. Let's say, for instance, that a prospective client has a project you think will take 120 hours to complete. Your fee for that project, at $75.00 per hour, would be $9,000.

????"Remember that someone will be deciding whether or not you're worth it, and there is a lot of flexibility," Wendleton says. "If lots of other people can do what you do for less, hiring managers will just pick someone else. On the other hand, if your skills are unique and in demand, especially if you're a known expert in something, clients will often pay more than the going rate."

????Sometimes much more: Wendleton knows a couple of solo consultants who each have two big clients, work for each company two days a week, and bill each one a flat $100,000 a year. Both consultants "had paid their dues in their respective fields and are worth every dime," she adds. "If you can get to that point in your own career, it's not a bad way to make a living."

????Talkback: If you've worked as an independent consultant, how did you determine what fees to charge clients? Leave a comment below.