When it comes to website design jobs, there are people pulling in hundreds of dollars per hour and people making $5-$10 an hour. What makes an employee affordable and how can you be the website designer making $100 an hour?

Employers: A website designer’s affordability is not, as you might think, 100% proportional to the hourly rate. In a world where the saying, “Time is Money” has never been more true, the hourly rate you pay can be justified with numerous variables, with the most important one being TIME. Turn around time, bugs, usability, search optimization know-how are just a few of the other variables in trying to find out if your website designer is affordable. Can you afford to pay someone $10 an hour, $50, or $100 isn’t the question. The question is do you have more time than money, or more money than time? If you have time to wait on a project then you can afford to take the chance on a lower rate employee. If you have to have something done right the first time and done quickly, then another cliche is quite true… “You get what you pay for.” If you’re an employer, then you probably know (but may not practice) that your time is very valuable, and outsourcing and delegating are the keys to success.
Jobseekers: If you are a web designer, then the question is… “How do I get to be the one making $100 an hour or more?” This is the most simple answer there is, and if followed will make you do well in any job you tackle with this mentality… CUSTOMER SERVICE! You have to answer your boss’s questions quickly, you have to set realistic expectations, and you have to deliver consistently. If you do those three things, but most importantly you communicate quickly and efficiently, you will have success, and you will eventually get to that high rate of pay. Your boss/employee relationship has a metaphorical bank which you deposit into when you provide great customer service and withdraw from when you don’t answer an email quickly, or set expectations higher than they should have been. When the bank gets to zero, you lose your job. If you keep depositing though, the interest earned keeps going up. That interest rate is your hourly rate in this metaphor, and it is also what makes you affordable even when you’re making double or triple the rate of others doing the same job.
No matter which side of the coin you’re on, jobseeker or employer, you can be affordable and you can find someone who is affordable. After you realize that money is not the only thing going in and out during these transactions.

Woot comes off as a great site with great deals. In the end those great deals end up being a waste of money. Here are the purchases I’ve made with an explanation for each one.
10/25/2007 Vivitar 8MP Digital Camera with 6x Optical Zoom : 8 mega pixels sounded great, but not a single picture comes out clearly.
6/4/2007 Dyson DC14 Full Kit Upright Vacuum : Bought two, one has worked well, the other makes a horrible loud crunching sound after two minutes of vaccuuming.

6/2/2007 Genius PenSketch 6×8 USB Graphic Tablet : Hasn’t even been opened yet.

5/31/2007 Vizio 37” High Definition LCD TV : Expensive TV, and it has worked well so far.

4/26/2007 Logitech io Personal Digital Pen : Hasn’t been used once.

4/26/2007 Logitech G5 Laser Gaming Mouse: Battlefield 2142 Edition : This has worked great, but its a mouse. I’ve never had a mouse that didn’t work.

3/31/2007 Ultrex 415994 Travel Mug Coffee Maker : Worked for a couple months and then just quit.

12/8/2006 RCA Lyra M2030 512MB MP3 Player : Christmas gifts, never saw them again.

12/7/2006 Philips Aurilium 5.1 Channel External High Definition Audio Processor : Used once, weren’t anything special.

11/19/2006 Logitech Wireless USB Music System for PC : Used once, for part of a party, but weren’t loud enough so I never used them again.

11/18/2006 HannsG 19″ 8ms LCD Monitor - $109.99 After Mail in Rebate : This one really irritates me, because the rebate was denied repeatedly and Woot wouldn’t do anything about it. I know for a fact I sent in what I had to, they just didn’t want to send the rebate.

UPDATE : 2-7-08

10/16/2006 Audiovox Portable 10” LCD TV with DVD Player & In-Car Mounting Kit : Doesn’t work on batteries, so it gets used very rarely. UPDATE : It has now broken and will not power up, with a disc caught inside. Another hunk of woot junk.

8/26/2006 Mixman MP3 Producer Music Mixer : Was a toy, not what I thought.

8/17/2006 Logitech X-530 5.1 Surround Sound Speakers & Subwoofer : Never used.

8/17/2006 Atcom VoIP USB Phone : Not very reliable at all, and phone communication needs to be reliable to be worth using.

4/1/2006 MAG KleerDrain Instant Drain Opener : The one time this was used it worked well. Probably my best woot.

3/2/2006 Gyration Ultra GT Compact Keyboard Suite : Used once and discarded. Not worth it.

11/15/2005 Monster Mobile PowerStation 150 Watt Inverter 2-Pack : Never used either of two.

10/24/2005 Gyration Ultra GT Compact Keyboard Suite : Christmas present, which I don’t think was ever used.

10/15/2005 Lightning Audio 400-Watt Complete Bass System : Still have not installed this in my car.

3/11/2005 HP Photosmart 7350 Photo Printer : Worked well, but bought another printer instead of refilling the ink.

Author:  Lindsey Pollak is the author of “Getting from College to Career: 90 Things to Do Before You Join the Real World” (HarperCollins, 2007)

Q: What if I don’t have a passion? What do you recommend I do to find one?

A: First of all, I encourage you to define passion any way you’d like. It’s romantic to believe that we should all “just know” what makes us feel passionately. I don’t believe that’s true for everyone. Passions can—and often do—appear and grow and change.

Finding a career-related passion can be particularly difficult for today’s young professionals. After spending almost your entire life so far in school, you’re now facing an entire world of possibilities—more options than any generation in history. It can be hard to find the passion amid the pressure.

Here are some tips to help:

Be greedy. Don’t just look for one passion. Explore and enjoy as many as you’d like.

Be proactive. I don’t believe that you can just sit in your dorm room or bedroom, think really, really hard and figure out the best plan for your future. Thinking and self-reflection are definitely part of the equation, but you’ll learn much more about yourself—and do it much more quickly—if you combine thinking with action. Say yes to invitations to try new things—trips, volunteer opportunities, games, concerts, art exhibits. Talk to lots of people about their careers and hobbies and interests. Think of yourself as an active explorer.

Be curious. Go to a newsstand or bookstore or video store and browse aimlessly. Pick up every article or magazine or book or movie that interests you in any way—even if you’re not sure why—and keep notes on your likes and dislikes. Trust your instincts to attract you to your natural passions.

Be immature. Think back to when you were a kid. What did you like to do? Sing, dance, read, play video games, wrestle, paint, write, care for animals? Ask your family and childhood friends what activities you were naturally drawn to as a child and try picking those up again. Even if your interests have changed, “playing” like a kid will bring you back to a natural, authentic state of mind and heart.

Finally, be patient with yourself and enjoy the process of finding all of your passions. This is the fun stuff! And I promise you that the journey of finding your passions is more than worth the effort.

Good luck!

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry-level jobs and other career opportunities.