Do you homework. There are lots of websites, industry standard wages, or look at job postings sites for similar jobs to see what they are willing to pay. This is one of those items where it can literally pay you to do your homework. When you are negotiating for an hourly rate, always try to get the interviewer or employer to suggest or offer a rate first. This can be daunting at times because they are usually doing the same to you. They are trying to figure out what is the lowest acceptable salary they can hire you at. It's always best to try and decide before the interviewer what your acceptable pay range is - though this often times needs to be balanced against the necessity of having a job. One thing to note is, if you start off a career with too low of a salary - it may take years of salary increases to reach a pay level that they should have started you out at. Meaning, if you settle now for a low wage, you may never be satisfied with a wage increase because you are always earning less than you should be if you had started your career with the correct starting salary.