Think I should argue what I got paid?

[Deicide]

You might think your the sh!t at computers because you made a web site, but you have to consider the company's point of view on this. Your a 15 year old kid, and you can't really prove your skills to them, so yes you did take a chance. You even said that you had never set up a Server before they hired you to do it, so they're concerns were probably justified. If they had hired a pro, he would have had it finished in probably half the time (if he was being moral, hehe). Just consider it experience and good reference material, its not like you have to pay bills or anything right now.

 

[huypham]

6 hours??? and you never checked the cable? I would say thats inexpierience =).

Huy

 

[Paulson]

ack....

maybe I should hit the edit button rather than post....

 

[Paulson]

If you knew the 3 guys that work there, it doesn't matter if it only takes you a half an hour, you have to go over everything again and again...

They're newer to webservers, so I figured I'd help them out. They asked....

I had to also wait to get the material from the woman who does their web design, so it wasn't my fault the total amount of my work takes 4 + 2 + 1 1/2 (that tutorial took some time, not only to make it, but make a web version too...)

huyI was assuming it was a NIC card problem, and really didn't want to deal with it as I didn't install it nor sell it to them, only to troubleshoot wrong and still have the problem at hand...

 

[Viper GTS]

I spent 6 hours working on someone's house installing a router, only to give up and later find out it was THEIR bad cable. I didn't get ANYTHING for it, and it pisses me off.

This kind of stuff demonstrates lack of experience. But that is not a bad thing! You will pick up experience as you go, & eventually you'll be making a lot more than $10 an hour.

Viper GTS

 

[blueghost75]

i can see your point of view.......i'm 16, and I know more about computers than the average computer-fixer-guy would. Just go look at all my posts in the trouble shooting forum or whatever it is called....

I would feel rippied off myself too, however, now that they know you can do this sort of stuff, you can start charging them more......

 

[GL]

I get paid CDN$17.25/hr to do C++ development work. Consider yourself lucky for doing such simple work and getting paid that much. Either Canadian companies pay on the low side or American ones pay on the high side. But I'd never pay anyone more than CDN$20/hr to do what you did (that works out to about $US13).

 

[obiwaynekenobi]

dude, I *CHARGE* $18 an hour. and at the end they don't give me a paycheck before I give them a Bill. And if they don't pay It I Sue. and to court I take the local costs had they hired someone else who was contracted out.

never lost a case yet.

 

[Paulson]

I realize that I'm only 15, and for what I can do, I probably look like one who knows not much.

For some reason though I feel in the future if a problem shall arise, that I'm not going to be the one on call....

 

[KingHam]

It's a little late to be discussing pay scale after the job has already been completed . IMO, for that job that you probably deserve about $125-150. If you did a good job then they will probably call you for something again and you can then get a little more dosh. Take this as a learning experience.

KingHam

 

[GL]

I do some consulting work on the side. Learn to type up an invoice, and learn to be assertive enough to demand a certain hourly wage. Your problem is likely that you trusted that your mom could organize this gig for you. If you're going to do consulting work make sure you walk the walk and talk the talk.

 

[Paulson]

Well, here's the scoop. My mom said they would pay good, because she's known the guy a long time.

anyways, I just held out thinking that if I was to ask or set a specific price, they probably wouldn't let me, and think that I was greedy or something.

ya, it's over and done with now.

 

[Descartes]

Just deal with it. Your age *IS* a very big factor, and it will continue to be one for quite some time. I was in your position for quite some time, and you just have to pay your dues for a while.

Bottom of the line? You're 15, you can't possibly have as much experience as someone who has been working in the field for even a year. It's not to say you're not knowledgeable, but it simply isn't the same.

 

[Red Dawn]

nt

 

[Red Dawn]

<< and I know more about computers than the average computer-fixer-guy would. >>

Hahaha.. what's the going rates for &quot;Computer-fixer-guys?

 

[kami]

dude, you are what? 15? no experience? $10/hr is plenty, stop whining.

 

[hubbs]

Stop whining. At least you have the oppuratunity to make some money. I'm stuck here mowing 1 lawn a week for $15 a time. Good money for only an hour of work. it only ads up to about 45-60 a month though so you should be happey you got paid what ya did Paulson. Besides you had to have had some fun doing it so who cares.

 

[dirtboy]

Paulson, if I were you, I would have been happy to have the opportunity, paid or not. I know you don't see it this way, but they took a chance with you. Sure, they could have hired in a &quot;professional&quot; and paid them top dollar, but they gave you the opportunity. In your situation and at your age, the experience should be worth 1000 times more than the money.

Now it is time to capitalize on the opportunity you were given. What you should do is go down to the company and ask one of the managers or someone higher up, to write a letter of recommendation about the work you did. That way, should you come across another opportunity, you have a reference from a real business.

What does that do for you? Two things: gives you credibility and the option to set a reasonable rate to get a job that would normally be given to a business.

 

[Stark]

Did you pay taxes on that check?

If not, you're working under the table and don't have a leg to stand on. $10 an hour isn't bad. Live with it.

Just the fact that they are relying on a 15 year old to set up their servers is pretty scary. Next time, make sure you set your price before starting a job. If you don't even know how much you're supposed to get paid, you can't complain when the check comes.

 

[Jugernot]

You got screwed! Never ever do work without some type of written or at least oral agreement with someone you can trust. $10 isn't bad for flipping burgers, but not for tech work.

Jugs

 

[cybertainment]

you set it up......take it down

 

[Soybomb]

<< I have knowledge with setting up webservers. (I've figured it inside and out now that I have my own webserver...) >>

Ohhh yeah setting up a win2k box to serve webpages takes a degree from MIT. You made more than 10 tax free dollars a hou, not bad if you ask me. Being a student employee at the college I got paid $5.15 an hour to set up win2k boxes serving, configre some routers and firewalls, setup linux boxes as pop and smtp servers, mail forwards, webservers, dns servers etc. I could have played dumb and not done that work that the consultants the school used to have come in charged $75 an hour for, but for me it was worth it. Now I've got a couple people that I can have prospective employers call for references on me and say I'm a hardworker and knowledgeable. I also gained the experience. You didn't get screwed, you are just paving your future. Next time don't work without working out the price beforehand if $10 an hour is below your 1337 windows skillz.

 

[Hyudra]

Hah, you did your job, u deserve to get paid big bux. I don't care how old you are, u did work and work = money. Heh I remember that 15 year old kid who got hired by Apple to make games at 100k a year.

As for argueing, i dunno, it was your first time, and you learned your lesson, so next time you'll be good.

 

[Viper GTS]

Hah, you did your job, u deserve to get paid big bux. I don't care how old you are, u did work and work = money.

The problem is that because he lacks experience, he's not worth as much per hour as someone who does this for a living. If one person can do the job in an hour for $100 an hour, &amp; another can do it in 5 for $40 an hour, which do you choose?

Viper GTS

 

[Ameesh]

you should have had an agreed on wage befor ethe whole thing started.