Is $200 an Hour Reasonable for Consulting After I Leave My Job?
Asked by
MellowCedar47
I'm leaving my company and my boss has asked whether I'd be willing to do occasional contract work afterward. I like my boss and coworkers, so I don't want to leave them completely stranded, but the company has had more than a decade to build redundancy into this role and never did. I'm also burned out and would really prefer a clean break. Would charging $200 per hour be reasonable—not so high that it feels insulting, but high enough that they'll only contact me when they genuinely need help?
Answers
If you genuinely don’t want the work, it’s perfectly fine to decline. The staffing gap is the company’s responsibility, not yours. Don’t set a high “go away” rate unless you’re prepared for them to accept it and expect professional service in return.
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$200 per hour is reasonable in many markets, though specialized IT consulting can easily run $250–$500 or more. A good rule of thumb is to start around two to three times your former employee hourly equivalent, since you’ll be covering taxes, insurance, benefits, administration, and unpaid downtime yourself.
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If you want to help but avoid being pulled back into the job, consider a prepaid retainer or a block of hours that expires after a set period. For example, they could purchase 20 or 40 hours in advance, with no guaranteed response time and separate pricing for emergencies. That gives them limited access while preserving your ability to move on.
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Don’t underprice this just to protect your coworkers. If $200 would leave you annoyed every time they call, it isn’t high enough. Pick the amount that would make the interruption worthwhile, or simply tell them you’re unavailable and offer a brief knowledge-transfer period before your departure.
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The terms matter as much as the rate. Use a written contract, define the scope, set your availability and response time, and establish a minimum charge—one or two hours for remote work and perhaps four hours for on-site or urgent work. Bill phone calls, troubleshooting, preparation, travel, and after-hours work rather than treating them as free favors.
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CopperLark19: The exact rate depends heavily on your location, specialty, and how critical the systems are. Compare it with what they’d pay an outside consultant or managed-service provider, not just what your old salary worked out to.