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How to answer the “What’s your current salary?” job interview question

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Re: How to answer the “What’s your current salary?” job interview question

#51

Post by mpartel »

Spearchucker wrote: post #32
cies wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I once named my salary and they thought it was so high that they said they'll need a salary strip to prove it before signing the contract. The negotiation stranded on other points, so I never had to. But I had the gut feeling this practice is not legal (in EU).

It is not legal (data protection act). And my experience is the same. I tell the recruiter this and if they persist I politely end the conversation. There are enough jobs out there.

For software engineers maybe. Not everyone has that much choice, unfortunately.

Re: How to answer the “What’s your current salary?” job interview question

#52

Post by sdoering »

chii wrote: post #48
fahadkhan wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you need any one job that badly? Appreciate I am in a fortunate position but I was under the impression that there is more demand for developers than there is supply.

I think there's more demand for cheap developers. There's almost no demand for expensive ones imho.

I agree. And I would even go a step further. There shouldn't be demand for "expensive" devs. Because they aren't worth their dime. No one is.

Great devs should receive their worth as compensation. But that wouldn't make them expensive. That would just make them worth their dime.

But I totally get the point you were trying to make. Lot's of employers try to get one over and not pay you what you are worth.

Re: How to answer the “What’s your current salary?” job interview question

#53

Post by jakub_g »

What if... your min-salary-absolutely is 70k, but their max-salary-whatever-happens is 50k, and you waste weeks of your time on several stages of interviewing only to learn that?

None of those "never tell your salary expectations" ever respond that question.

Re: How to answer the “What’s your current salary?” job interview question

#54

Post by alkonaut »

aedron wrote: post #37

"I prefer to not say" smile . Seriously guys, how hard is this?

Or just say "I'm looking for around X for a position like this". What's between the lines is you not saying "...and what I make right now isn't relevant at this point".

That said, there are traps here. a) for e.g. some public authorities and such it might be the case that your salary is public and the interviewer already has it. or b) As where I live, it's one step worse - everyones salary is public (or rather their tax returns are - but it's pretty easy to deduct someones salary from their tax returns if they are ordinary employees).

So I would always assume the interviewer already has the number, and I wouldn't worry much about whether they know or not - but I'd try to steer the conversation away from it and not try to anchor at the current salary.

Re: How to answer the “What’s your current salary?” job interview question

#55

Post by falsedan »

DoubleGlazing wrote: post #17

I find that a lot of the tactics used to deflect or avoid answering awkward questions in interviews just do not work. There are two questions that always get me in interviews. The first one is the salary one. If I am evasive, or try to deflect, the interviewer will probe deeper. They just wont take no for an answer. In fact I've even been told straight up "Give us a figure, or we won't proceed". Another one is about…

  > Another one is about my children. They are five and seven and finish school in the
  > afternoon, when they are collected by their after school service. Under EU law
  > interviewers cannot ask about my family life, but they do.
That's a huge red flag. Just asking the question in an interview situation leaves them open to unfair discrimination lawsuits, and you can easily get a negotiated settlement whenever they end the interview process.

I would find the time to have a brief consultation with a lawyer familiar with workplace & EEO law, and hear what they think.

Note that EEO law usually aren't regulated (companies don't need to show they are in compliance, and government agencies don't conduct spot checks with 'mystery candidates'); they have to fear the punishment of a settlement in order to abide with the law. If they're a tiny fly-by-night company they might just close up and re-establish elsewhere to avoid the suit.

Re: How to answer the “What’s your current salary?” job interview question

#56

Post by marbletiles »

rkangel wrote: post #49
goldenkey wrote: post #8

Just lie and say something competitively high, because negotations will always lowball and haggle it down from there. Previous salaries are NEVER verified for simple reasons, its beyond offensive for the references as well as the interviewing company to ask about compensation which is a private business affair. Why is responding to asshole questions in a pragmatic manner so hard to avenge for hanging by the doornail…

Having been asked my previous salary at interview (and having answered honestly), on the first day at my new job they asked for various verification information - passport, degree certificates etc., and a payslip from my old job. I work in the UK FWIW, and at a company that would almost certainly not be breaking the law with HR policies.

You're under no obligation to keep them, however, so you can't be ordered to provide them. Your P60 is a different matter, but there are lots of reasons for the figures on that to not match what you claimed.

Re: How to answer the “What’s your current salary?” job interview question

#57

Post by mpartel »

falsedan wrote: post #55
DoubleGlazing wrote: post #17

I find that a lot of the tactics used to deflect or avoid answering awkward questions in interviews just do not work. There are two questions that always get me in interviews. The first one is the salary one. If I am evasive, or try to deflect, the interviewer will probe deeper. They just wont take no for an answer. In fact I've even been told straight up "Give us a figure, or we won't proceed". Another one is about…

> Another one is about my children. They are five and seven and finish school in the > afternoon, when they are collected by their after school service. Under EU law > interviewers cannot ask about my family life, but they do. That's a huge red flag. Just asking the question in an interview situation leaves them open to unfair discrimination lawsuits, and you can easily get a negotiated settlement whenever they end t…

How would one prove after the fact that they asked that question? They could just lie.

Re: How to answer the “What’s your current salary?” job interview question

#58

Post by praptak »

goldenkey wrote: post #8

Just lie and say something competitively high, because negotations will always lowball and haggle it down from there. Previous salaries are NEVER verified for simple reasons, its beyond offensive for the references as well as the interviewing company to ask about compensation which is a private business affair. Why is responding to asshole questions in a pragmatic manner so hard to avenge for hanging by the doornail…

You paint it as compulsive nitpicking while it actually hurts your negotiation position.

Speaking of which - if you're happy with your current job, why should you care if they skip you to take advantage of someone more gullible? Heck, given that I'm a) pretty happy with current job and b) often contacted by recruiters, I'm going to try my hand at some negotiations around this.

Re: How to answer the “What’s your current salary?” job interview question

#59

Post by marbletiles »

mooreds wrote: post #10
marbletiles wrote: post #6

There's no reason to answer that question. Instead, talk about your expectations: say that your understanding is the role involves X, Y, and Z, and you have experience in related areas A, B, C, and accordingly you'd be looking to get $x for this role. Then, transfer it all back to them: "Does that fit with your range for the position?"

One point raised on the article is that they will have a better idea of market and salary range than you will (or they should!). So if you give them your desired salary it might be out of their range (too high or too low). Also, especially at the beginning of the hiring process, you don't know everything about the company, so how can you have a valid desired salary? Also, your value to them as a possible employee inc…

The key point is that your desired salary should be an accurate amount based on your needs and expectations. If you're genuinely out of their range, why would you settle anyway?

This is why it's crucial to focus the conversation on your expectations, not your current compensation. That might not be enough for you! That might be why you are looking for a new role! It's a waste of everybody's time if they misunderstand your expectations and hire you for less than you want/need.

(Yes, your value increases as you go through the interview process, but this point of the process isn't the salary negotation. You're not going in hard at this point, just setting their expectations).

Re: How to answer the “What’s your current salary?” job interview question

#60

Post by alkonaut »

goldenkey wrote: post #8

Just lie and say something competitively high, because negotations will always lowball and haggle it down from there. Previous salaries are NEVER verified for simple reasons, its beyond offensive for the references as well as the interviewing company to ask about compensation which is a private business affair. Why is responding to asshole questions in a pragmatic manner so hard to avenge for hanging by the doornail…

> Previous salaries are NEVER verified for simple reasons,

I'd be careful generalizing here as this is very local to different countries. I can check out a candidates Stackoverflow score in one web browser tab, their Linkedin profile in a second tab, and their tax returns (public info) in a third tab.

Yes. Really.

It might not be right but if it's that easy it's hard to avoid. It's certainly useful information to have in the following interview.

Edit: Public tax returns periodically surface in he US debate too, and taxes were (last) public in 1923-24 it seems http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/14/business/yourtaxes/14discl...

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