Should you state your salary when looking for positions?

nel

hi,

i just wondered what everyone thought of this? whilst looking about its becoming increasingly common for employers / agencies to ask what salary you are currently on. i can see the obvious benefit from the companies side but an obvious downside for the person who is applying for the job!

Does everyone state there current salary when doing so? does anyone not state it? and if so does that effect your chances for an interview? also would anyone put a few extra £££'s on to there current salary just incase ?

Whats your thoughts?

KGhaleon

I never have and was never asked until lately, when I moved to california. I don't know why they care...but I never send that information. They shouldn't require it to begin with.

blargoe

ONLY if asked. In my experience, they usually end up asking at some point before you're hired. NOT putting it should affect your chances at getting an interview unless you're making too much.

HeroPsycho

They're asking so they:

A. Ensure you are the caliber you say you are. People bend their job titles and what not all the time, or they work for a very small company as a "Senior Network Architect" and made $30K/yr. If that's the case, it doesn't matter what you were, in their minds that doesn't count as Architect experience.

B. Try to pay you less. HR always tries to pay you the least amount of money as possible to get you to do your job. That's their job. So they try to find out what you're currently making, and give you a significant raise from what you're making now so you'll happily come aboard at potentially a lower than market price for your skills.

Combat this by either refusing to provide this information at the risk of potentially not getting the job, or speak in terms of your "total compensation package" which includes salary plus any fringe benefits like matching 401K, cell phone reimbursements, mileage, company provides computer and or laptop, etc.

undomiel

I tell them that my salary information is confidential. It hasn't caused any problems so far, and doesn't seem to have blocked any interviews. All the jobs up til now I had given out my salary information so when they hired me they would talk about how they're doing me a favor to give me a $0.50 or $1.00 raise from my previous salary. So I've decided to put a stop to that. Otherwise I'd have to go through a huge number of jobs to get to a market value at that rate!

sthomas

If they ask I will usually tell them but as far as I remember I haven't been asked too often. Usually I get asked what my salary requirements are.

Mishra

undomiel wrote:

I tell them that my salary information is confidential. It hasn't caused any problems so far, and doesn't seem to have blocked any interviews. All the jobs up til now I had given out my salary information so when they hired me they would talk about how they're doing me a favor to give me a $0.50 or $1.00 raise from my previous salary. So I've decided to put a stop to that. Otherwise I'd have to go through a huge number of jobs to get to a market value at that rate!

Nice post. I totally agree because even my boss has mentioned about how this was a good decision and a great salary jump etc...

nel

Mishra wrote:

undomiel wrote:

I tell them that my salary information is confidential. It hasn't caused any problems so far, and doesn't seem to have blocked any interviews. All the jobs up til now I had given out my salary information so when they hired me they would talk about how they're doing me a favor to give me a $0.50 or $1.00 raise from my previous salary. So I've decided to put a stop to that. Otherwise I'd have to go through a huge number of jobs to get to a market value at that rate!

Nice post. I totally agree because even my boss has mentioned about how this was a good decision and a great salary jump etc...

good point...thats even what its like in my current job - but they dont seem to include the higher costs of living etc for making the move.

Its just i have seen a job i would like to do as a net admin and they are asking all of my salary details for EVERY job even at the application stage!

eMeS

Generally the only time I've disclosed salary in the past was when asked to complete a bonding application. Usually, when you're asked to do this you already have the job because it costs them money to check all of the information on the bonding application and insure you. If you are asked to complete a bonding application, be hyper-accurate...I've seen people fired once the full check comes back for falsifying prior salary, etc...

However, during the interview proocess, it is my opinion that disclosing prior salary takes away your negotiating power. The focus of the discussion should be on what you are worth to the people that want to hire you. Sometimes they are very pushy in these cases, which to me has always been a good indicator of whether or not they are offering an environment that suits me (e.g., email the other day from a recruiter "offering" me a contract to do IT Governance work, without talking to me, providing any information about the contract, and entirely focusing on what rate I would charge....).

My understanding is that tax records are public in the US, and anyone can verify what you write on a bonding application or indicate in an interview, if they are so inclined.

This is another example of why it is good to have a strong network of people. If you have a friend that works at the company, he could give you an indication of what the pay ranges are for that job. In some large organizations these pay ranges by job grade are documented and posted on company intranets.

MS