Graduate salaries in hospitality measure up

Hospitality may be dogged by a low-pay, long-hours image, but graduates coming into the sector this summer can expect to be earning more than many of their contemporaries.

According to careers service Graduate Prospects, the average starting salary for graduate jobs in the hotel and catering sector between October 2002 and September 2003 was £17,000.

This put the sector ahead of other service industries such as retailing, publishing, and transport and communications.

When it came to looking at job categories as a whole, average hotel and catering graduate salaries were ahead of those in education, healthcare, law enforcement, the leisure industry, advertising and marketing, human resources and publishing, media and the performing arts.

Management consultant positions, perhaps unsurprisingly, were among the best paid, at £20,000, as were creative arts, design and craft jobs, at more than £21,000.

On average, graduates coming on the job market this summer will command starting salaries of nearly £22,000, ranging from £13,242 to £36,000, Graduate Prospects predicted.

But it was not all good news. Among the lowest-paid graduate positions advertised in its Prospects Directory, the three lowest were in the voluntary and hospitality sectors.

by Nic Paton

Buy this week's Caterer magazine for more industry news and analysis