Hotel Developer Interview / Leveraging Offers

Helpful. Thanks for the reply friend

Why not try to restructure your comp at your current shop? Approach your current boss and respectfully ask them what you need to do to take it to the next level at the company, and make it clear you are asking about advancement/leadership opportunities. It's perfectly reasonable to let them know you have fielded calls from other shops and gotten traction at a comp level of X and a title of X as a leverage point. Straight up tell them you are respectfully requesting they pay you whatever it is you specifically have in mind.

The grass is always greener on the other side. If you are at a shop you like getting good deal reps it's worth trying to stick around. Give them the chance to address your concerns, you might be surprised what happens when you just ask for what you want under the vague "threat" you may leave otherwise.

No harm in meeting other groups, at the end of the day only you are looking out for yourself. I wouldn't directly point out to him that you are shopping him for comparative offers, it can be taken as a combative move. Instead, I might suggest intimating you have been fielding unsolicited calls from recruiters/shops who were interested in moving further down the road with you after agreeing with your comp ask/range. Definitely do your homework and give him specific examples of what you have done relative to what you said you would do in that performance review.

If he's not willing to re-adjust based on those facts, then you have a stronger position with the scorched-earth approach. IE, get alternative offers and leverage those directly as benchmark points for new comp. He can't be that mad, after you approached him to voice this concern directly prior.

But, you did get re-adjusted only 10 months ago. I would be careful, you don't want to be seen as overextending....

I currently work for a hotel developer. I am at the bottom of the totem pole out of a 4 person team. We currently have two hotels under development, and I am involved in every aspect from entitlements, accounting, investor relations, pre-construction, etc.

It would be helpful to know the position are you currently interviewing for and the kind of hotel product you would be developing.

1. Like previously mentioned, HVS is a great resource. They have a good pulse on the macro environment of the hotel industry and they provide some insight into select regional markets. Their cost development survey is a good overview of the industry (link). I would also recommend understanding the current demand drivers in the local tourism markets the company is active in. What hotel product types are these areas currently lacking based on the current and future demand drivers? It would also have and understanding of Smith Travel Research (STR) Reports, but it's easy to learn. You can get certified in hotel industry analytics (link). STR provide great reports on tourism data in specific markets and product type. At the end of the day, yes it is just real estate investing. But, most of the successful hotel developers have a solid grasp on the operations side.

2. I would recommend speaking to relationships you have built with architects, gc's, interior designers, etc. Also, in this cost inflationary environment, I would speak to any value engineering/cost saving experience you have. Navigating through the zoning/entitlements environment would be a great skill to harp on as well. Hotel Development is not really any different from any other real estate development. The topics of the interview would be based on the responsibilities of the position.

3. I wouldn't bring it up unless you're truly prepared to make the switch. I know every company is different, but have you had any discussions with your superiors about your current dissatisfaction?