Offered a job.. salary questions ?

Itrimble

A company has offered me a job, and the last step is this email I got:

Congratulations! We are in the process of creating an offer of employment for you, but first I need to gather some information.
Can you please provide me with the following details?

Current Salary?
Any annual bonus?
Salary requirement?
Benefits?

How should I reply? Do they have a right to ask all of this info? I put my requested salary on the application form? It was twice of what I'm making now.

Thanks for the help everyone.

srabiee

Your current salary should not be divulged. Restate your salary requirements and any benefits that you require. If they respond and insist that you divulge your existing salary information, tell them you cannot discuss that due to contractual obligations with your current employer.

BradleyHU

Wait...why was this not discussed already from the beginning? You should have found out what their pay range is, and if it fits in what you're looking for, before you even did interviews. What if what you're looking for is well out of their range that they're looking to pay, then you just wasted your time for nothing. Never be afraid to get the salary talks out of the way in the beginning.

Don't give them your current salary. Thats none of their biz. You can definitely do what srabiee just said about the "contract obligations", but if you feel compelled to give it, then add on like 10K or so to your current salary, depending on how much you make, and how long you've been in IT.

Itrimble

I met very briefly with HR and was surprised it wasn't mentioned at all. All I did was put my minimum salary requirement on the application.

BradleyHU

i would have asked even before going in to talk to HR or whomever. As soon as I get an email, or phone call about a role i've applied to, i ask about salary.

squirrelonfire

What is the job title? I am so happy for you, congratulation man.
Just like the others said, your current salary should not be divulged. But this is a betting question like always. There can only be 2 ways this can go
1) The company likes you very much and they are willing to match up their current salary with your current, whatever it may be. If they can't, they will just give you the one they give to every other candidate. In other words, they are reasonable and logical.
2) The company doesn't like you enough to offer you the salary you ask or even bother tell you this is the max they can give. All they will do is go through the replies from other candidate and pick one the current salary that matches their offering salary. Other words, they pass up the offer on you because well they are stupid.

Itrimble

I did a search on Glass Door, Salary.com and other sites and matched the average. I was not being outrageous in my requirements.

binarysoul

I would call a local employment assistance agency as their advisors can quickly tell you if they can ask your current salary. If it's legal under your state employment laws, then you can decide whether to disclose.

cyberguypr

Is this an established company that you know? Who "creates an offer of employment" without knowing salary requirements. My sixth sense is telling me something is off here.

There's a few schools of though regarding divulging your current compensation. I just don't do it. I come up with a required compensation number based on my expertise, market conditions, and specifics of the role.

GarudaMin

Itrimble wrote: »

I did a search on Glass Door, Salary.com and other sites and matched the average. I was not being outrageous in my requirements.

I don't trust those data. I personally find the salaries listed on those sites to be way too low. Their data is skewed toward median nationwide salary even if you search by zipcode/industry in a specific city/region.

ArabianKnight

I think there is a site that HR people can go to find your current or last salary, or they will just call your employer. I don't think it would be a good idea to say your salary was higher that it really is. If they discover this then they may wonder what else you are not telling the truth about. My .02!

srabiee

I've read that by law the only thing an employer or former employer can divulge is your employment status (whether you are currently employed or formerly employed). They cannot legally divulge your salary information. Furthermore, I've never heard of a website that contains a giant database of salary information for all Americans. My sense is that such a site would likely be unethical and, frankly, illegal.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

chickenlicken09

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-answer-what-your-last-salary-liz-ryan

HiImMat

My .02. At this point in the hiring process it seems they are working on cost versus value when it comes to whom they fill the postion with. You may be as equally qualified as someone else and in that instance they will hire best bang for the buck. You could stretch your perceived net worth by increaseing your current salary, maybe add a bonus or two, or even suggest that you are compensated for overtime, if you are not a salaried employee. I do not think that it is beneficial to disclose salary and most companies that I have had experience with have a non-disclosure clause when it comes to compensation, I would go that route. They are willing to pay what you stated at the start of the interview process or they would not have wasted man hours up to this point, they are simply trying to see if they can get you at a lower rate.

GarudaMin

srabiee wrote: »

I've read that by law the only thing an employer or former employer can divulge is your employment status (whether you are currently employed or formerly employed). They cannot legally divulge your salary information. Furthermore, I've never heard of a website that contains a giant database of salary information for all Americans. My sense is that such a site would likely be unethical and, frankly, illegal.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

You are correct. Even though, unlike EU which emphasizes employee rights in privacy/data protection, US still have some narrow protections for employees under contract, tort and statutory laws. Your former employer will not divulge such information for the potential lawsuits. However, you still have to show that such dissemination of your salary is highly offensive to a reasonable person and courts have been cautious in finding such offensiveness. But general rule of practice, your former employer will not share it. I, however, don't know if such salary will be known via Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), which does your reference and background check.

networker050184

Just tell the truth. I never understand all the games people play with this stuff. Either they are going to pay you what you asked for already or not.

srabiee

According to this article, credit checks haven't revealed salary or employment status for several decades now.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/7-secrets-credit-report-wont-070049287.html

Heero

networker050184 wrote: »

Just tell the truth. I never understand all the games people play with this stuff. Either they are going to pay you what you asked for already or not.

At good employers sure. Bad employers will try to underpay you simply because you were underpaid at your last job. IMO the employer is "playing the games" here and he should tell them he is not disclosing his current salary.

networker050184

So... why would you be accepting a job at a bad company to begin with? No hiding your current salary when time for a raise comes around.

GarudaMin

I'd tell them what I currently make (total comp). Then I tell them the minimum I am looking for to make a move (for example: I am looking for at the least $$$). If they don't pay the minimum you are looking for, no deal. If they only pay minimum, you can either accept or ask for a bit more increase. But a good company would pay than minimum (even if it's by $5k).

networker050184

Agreed GarudaMin. I've received more than I've asked for every time but once when they offered exactly what I asked. Even then I was able to negotiate up about $10k.

srabiee

The best bet is to find out their budgeted salary range before beginning the interview process, if possible.

GarudaMin

srabiee wrote: »

The best bet is to find out their budgeted salary range before beginning the interview process, if possible.

Totally agreed! Learned it the hard way years ago. Went to interviews, then found out later that the max they can pay is below what I made at the time (wasted time/effort/resources). So I now ask up front what the pay range is when recruiters sends jobs and I feel like I might be interested. Then I declined if it's below what I made and if recruiters ask, I simply gave them what I made, what it would take at a minimum for me to move and if they have opportunities that meet my expertise and criteria, to let me know.

ArabianKnight

I think during the background check they can see your prior W2's

Danielm7

ArabianKnight wrote: »

I think during the background check they can see your prior W2's

I've never heard of that, I've seen drug testing, credit checking, even calling past employers but I have never heard of a company being able to pull past W2s.

taternuts666

The only way they will find out your current salary is if you divulge the information or if you are a government employee and then the information is open to the public.

dave330i

networker050184 wrote: »

Just tell the truth. I never understand all the games people play with this stuff. Either they are going to pay you what you asked for already or not.

People enjoy needlessly complicating trivial matters?

wtrwlkr

Danielm7 wrote: »

I've never heard of that, I've seen drug testing, credit checking, even calling past employers but I have never heard of a company being able to pull past W2s.

My current company outsources their background checks with a company called Hireright. If they can't get in touch with any of your employers during their screening, they ask you to provide W-2s to prove employment dates. I didn't mind too much, as I already had an offer letter with salary in hand, but I still sent in the W2's with pay information blacked out.

cyberguypr

That crappy practice is requested by the customer. I've been through two jobs that use Hireright, refused contacting the previous employer, never provided compensation history, and never had to comply with such crap.

yeah yeah

ArabianKnight wrote: »

I think there is a site that HR people can go to find your current or last salary, or they will just call your employer. I don't think it would be a good idea to say your salary was higher that it really is. If they discover this then they may wonder what else you are not telling the truth about. My .02!

Hilarious.

Itrimble

Well, the company offered me the job!! They accepted my salary (basically double what I was making) which is fantastic, and that doesn't even include my bonuses. I will be getting lots of improve benefits, more vacation, and they also offer tuition reimbursement. I'm super excited, and wanted to thank everyone on the site for the encouragement, and valuable insight I have received!

All I did was emulate the people who I saw were successful on this board. I looked at their trajectory, what certs to go for, and more importantly, how I could add value.

Once again, a big thanks to all. I hope to double my salary again in 2 more years!