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Ask HN: I've been asked to do a “1 hour consultation” for pay. What next?

3 points by headcanon ↗ HN
I was recently contacted (cold call) by a consultant on LinkedIn who is looking for a Subject Matter Expert for "Management and Security" of SaaS products. He has floated a sum of $800-1000 for a "one hour consultation" and wants to discuss rates as well as provide more information.

The initial amount seems high since my calculated consulting rate based on my salary (<base salary> / 52 / 40 * 3) would be more like $250-$300/hr. However I naturally don't want to leave money on the table if they're willing to pay more.

I have almost a decade of experience as a software engineer delivering SaaS products both B2C and B2B, so I'm sure I can answer his questions, and I'm not afraid to negotiate but I've never done anything like this before, and I don't want to come off as naive initially - so I'm wondering what other peoples' experiences are.

Has anyone here worked as a consultant in this sort of capacity? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. Thanks!

4 comments

[ 29.6 ms ] story [ 407 ms ] thread
PragmaticPulp
Someone cold contacted you on LinkedIn, without a referral or network intro, and made a vague proposal to give you $1000? I would proceed with caution. Scams are increasingly common on LinkedIn lately, and this raises a few too good to be true warning flags.

If this proceeds to a 1 hour call, you need to decide some boundaries up front. Don't let the other person talk you into revealing sensitive information about current or past employers. Don't make any verbal commitments to deliver something to the client. If it comes to it, always come back to explaining that you can send over a proposal after the call. If the person continues to press for private information and/or verbal commitments, don't hesitate to put your foot down.

Finally, be wary of payment delays. A common tactic is to ask for more and more work while you wait for payment that never arrives. Some companies pay bills on 30, 60, or even 90 day terms, which leaves a huge window of opportunity for scammers to extract a lot of free work from people they never intend to pay out. If this drags on, you can request partial payment up front for continuation work or you can insist that the company pay down some of their balance before they can bill more hours to you.

headcanon
Thanks for the advice. I've done some due diligence (glassdoor, etc.) and the company seems legitimate so I don't see it being an outright scam. Its definitely possible that they might play games with payment delays. The way I see it, worst case scenario I'm out a couple of hours of phone time and basic research with a life lesson. If I was putting code down for that rate I would be much more wary.
chrisbennet
Send them your contract and get paid before you start.
sharemywin
I would agree due to the nature of the engagement I require the entire payment upfront.