What is a "Professional Day"?

[JonRB]

Simple question really.

If one was to be bidding on a freelance / contractor developer contract with an investment bank, and the requirement is to bid a day rate based on a "Professional Day", what is that? 8 hours (ie. 40 hours a week)? More?

"As long as it takes" isn't really going to help me here. I really need to work out the day rate that will on average give me the kind of hourly rate I'm happy to work at.

[LivingTheDream]

I always work on an 8 hour day for working out day rates.

That doesn't necessarily equate to what you will actually work though!!! Some contracts will average less than 8 hours/day so a day rate works well.

At an investment bank - I would try and get an hourly rate!

[Size Nine Elm]

8am till 6pm, hour for lunch?

Unless its a 'professional graduate' day, in which case it's 7am till 11pm...

[Doofus]

My standard contract specifies "8 hours, or part thereof". Some clients have managed to get me to change it to "4 hours, or part thereof".

But most of my work is done on retention anyway...

[N24]

Have you looked at it from the other side - "What is an amateur day?" - remember professionals get paid whereas amateurs do it for free...

OK I know it isn't always possible to be this flippant!

[Ranger 6]

I've seen it abreviated to 'PWD' Professional Working Day. In that case I asked 'so how many hours is that then?' and was told it was the equivalent to a permanent employee at the same firm. In that particular case it was 8 hours, others have been 7.5 hrs.

As I haven't been hourly paid for some years now I just work it back to an 8 hour day if anyone asks.

[JonRB]

Yup, it does seem to be coming out at around 8 hours by consensus. Which is what I usually calculate a day rate on anyway. I just hadn't come across it explicitly referred to as a "Professional Day" before, hence my query.