Trying to gather some competitive data on salaries for a particular job function? Here are six strategies you can use to gather important salary information. Knowing your market value before you start interviewing will help you craft a sound negotiation strategy later on if you are selected for the position.

1. Speak to industry contacts. They may be able to shed light on salary ranges for positions in various industries and at various professional levels.
2. Review job postings. Many job boards list salary ranges; this information can help you decipher the going market value for similar jobs.
3. Contact recruiters and professional associations in your field to benchmark positions. Recruiters will know what the market will bear based on recent placements. Professional associations may have survey data to help you better understand your market value.
4. Refer to salary sites such as Payscale, Salary.com, and Glassdoor. Payscale combines salary report data and scrubbed self-reported data to create salary ranges for various positions across multiple industries and geographies. Salary.com pulls information from salary sites used by many HR departments, and Glassdoor culls self-reported salary data.
5. Be aware that every job has unique factors such as geography and industry that influence salary level. If you are an IT professional in financial services and you are seeking an IT position in a not-for-profit, chances are the salary range will be lower. If you were working as an analyst in Columbus, Ohio, and you are now seeking a similar position in Boston, Mass., chances are salaries will be higher.
6. Try to determine the flexibility of the employer you are dealing with. Is it a large company with strict salary ranges or a smaller company that determines salaries on a case-by-case basis? Knowing this ahead of time can help you figure out how much wiggle room you will have during the negotiation phase.