Negotiating your salary with a new employer is always a delicate situation. It may seem uncomfortable or awkward if you don’t have a lot of experience with it. However, there are some guidelines that you can follow in order to better negotiate your pay and that can also help to give you some self-assurance in the process. 

Of course, you need to first consider your future salary against your living expenses. You should also keep in mind potential increases in your cost of living.

That is, if your current annual housing, utilities, transportation, grocery costs as well as any debt you may have like student loans total an amount that is greater than what a potential employer is willing to pay you, you may need to reconsider the position or look at the possibility of a second job. 

Similarly, if the potential salary that you are being offered only just covers your current living expenses and there is the possibility that those expenses will increase next year, you should account for the fact that you may not receive a salary increase commensurate with those costs. 

So your own cost of living should give you a baseline for your salary expectations. But there are also other factors to consider and these can come into play when you reach the negotiating phase of a job offer.

First, do your homework. When you’re researching your next role as well as potential employers, always be sure to include salary averages in your fact-finding work. You won’t necessarily find an exact number of the dollar amount currently being offered for an open position at any given company. But you should be able to discover pay rates that will give you an idea of the pay. If these estimates look too low to be a viable option for you, you may want to simply move on. There’s no sense in spending the time on the application and possible interview process when you know the financial numbers aren’t in your range. Better to invest the time in other job prospects where the salary prospects are better suited to your expectations.

If you’re currently enrolled or have graduated from a hospitality school, you know that universities and colleges with hospitality programs will often post an average of their most recent graduates’ salaries on their website. For example, in 2019, the 281 graduates from Cornell University’s School of Hospitality Administration had an average salary of $65,428. This information can also be helpful in gauging your salary expectations as far as what you can expect after completing a hospitality degree or without one. 

While you’re researching salary averages at those companies that you’re interested in, you’ll also want to look up national and regional salary averages for the hospitality industry. The best place to do this at on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ website. These will be among the most current numbers available and can also serve as a valuable tool in the negotiating process since they can provide you with leverage in a situation where an employer is offering significantly lower pay. In these instances, information is currency. 

With that in mind, you can also search this site for industry wage statistics by state, which can further aid your salary negotiations when an employer’s offer is comparatively lower. Most states also have their own department of labor where you can find recent wage statistics for specific industries and/or positions. Finding this information on their websites can require diligence. But if the number is higher than those on the U.S. Bureau of Labor site, the negotiating advantage could be worth your time. 

For example, the 2019 median salary for lodging managers in Cook County –where Chicago is located—was $47,454, according to the Illinois Depart of Labor. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics cites the national median salary for this position as $54,430. However, Illinois’ Labor Department also provides the average salary for an “experienced” lodging manager: $73,260. So even if you just have a year or two of hotel management experience, you’ll still want to use this higher number if you’re offered a job in The Windy City.

You should also check out the hospitality salary information available on recruiter websites like Hcareers where you’ll find information on statistics on hotel general manager salaries and hospitality jobs that pay $75,000 or more. You may or may not choose to use the information on these sites in salary negotiations, but they are excellent resources for gauging what a potential role and a potential employer will pay you.

Additional resources worth checking for salary averages include professional associations and national recruitment firms. Some organizations like the Public Relations Society of America, publish an annual report of salary ranges for their industry, which can be a useful negotiating tool. 

After all, while you’re part of the hospitality industry, your role –whether in finance, marketing, human resources, etc.—has applications beyond this one business sector. So use that information to your benefit. Similarly, many major recruiters also offer complimentary reports of salary averages focused on specific professions such as finance and accounting that can also prove valuable.

However, you shouldn’t underestimate your own experience. It is just as important to the negotiation process as the salary data that you collect. No matter how much or how little experience you may have, it has played a part in the company’s decision to hire you. 

So be sure to ask one or two questions that play to this during the interview because the interviewer’s responses could be beneficial to you when you’re asking for more money than what’s been offered. 

For instance, you could ask “what type of experience would the ideal candidate for this role have, and how your experience compares to that?” It’s likely that the interviewer will have at least a few positive points to make about how your experience matches up. After all, they did invite you to the interview. So take note of their response because you may want to remind them of it when you’re discussing a potentially higher salary. 

Another question you could ask is if the interviewer has any hesitations about your qualifications. The question itself shows that you have the professionalism to willingly discuss your own weaknesses. Plus, if the interviewer does have any concerns, he or she may try to balance any apprehensions they may have with some positive feedback when they voice those concerns. 

That is, they may respond, “your experience with A is valuable, but they would like to know about B on your resume.” Of course, answer the question. But take note of that positive commentary as it could help you to negotiate your salary up.

Also remember that depending on the company as well as the type of role, your salary may not be limited to just the base pay. There could also be commissions, bonuses, and other components of the benefits package that are also negotiable. So if creating a salary negotiation strategy seems like a lot of work, know that it can ultimately put more money in your pocket.