Salary Information: What is the Industry Standard

While interviewing both clients and candidates I learn a lot about salary ranges for all types of positions. I file the information away for future salary negotiations. While I may talk to 5 people a day about money, I realize that my clients don't. How can you educate yourself about what salaries people are getting at other companies.

First of all, talk to your HR department. Large companies have excellent salary survey data that's done both in-house and industry wide. Your HR manager also is continually talking to job seekers and has a good idea about what going salaries are.

If you don't have an HR department, or are re-evaluating your compensation programs, there are lots of other resources. First of all, Western Management Group, www.wmgnet.com has been doing wine industry compensation surveys for the last 8 years. Members can receive detailed reports about compensation plans and trends in the marketplace. Western Management Group has provided the survey that Wine Business Monthly uses for their Annual Salary Survey Report. This report provides data on the basic job categories in the wine business.

There are a few other websites that provide salary data, but they are not as specific to the wine world. Salary.com and Payscale.com have good location specific pay rates for general job titles, such as Administrative Assistant, Controller, etc. These sites are good for a ball park figure.