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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

#91

Post by falsedan »

DoubleGlazing wrote: post #90
falsedan wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

Oh I know, but what can you do. It's your word against theirs. And if you were to tape the interview and successfully claim for unfair dismissal your name will get around the local IT industry pretty quickly.

Talk to a lawyer to find out what you can do; they will know the likelihood of a successful case, and most would be happy to at least do a free consultation for 30m-1h.

> And if you were to […] successfully claim for unfair dismissal your name will get around the local IT industry pretty quickly.

That's also unfair discrimination! But I'd be amazed if any settlement didn't include a gag clause to prevent the parties from commenting on anything related to it. If they did, then it's back to court for a breach of contract…

This isn't personal, it's just business. Companies use these tactics because candidates let them get away with it.

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

#92

Post by jakub_g »

minipci1321 wrote: post #64

I have changed employers a lot, never asked for much on average (proportionally to the risk let's say), so my salary grew up a lot without difficult negotiations. (And -- yes, it did happen to me that I was offered more than I asked for... it is very, very far from being good thing for your future in the new company.) One point to keep in mind. In my personal experience, big companies are frequently behave well when…

> ask where it lies on the range for the grade you will be given. Make sure there is a margin for growth. If there is not -- beware, it might be very hard for you to be raised afterward

That's a very good piece of advice, thanks for writing that!

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

#93

Post by scarface74 »

Simple answer. Build your network and get to know some recruiters. Recruiters can help you gauge what the market needs right now and what is being paid.

When I go into an interview, the salary I'm looking for is already known. I make my minimum salary clear - which is within the market range.

I don't need to negotiate. Could the rate I'm asking for be slightly lower than what I'm asking? Maybe in the short term . But eventually if you keep up with market, and are willing to aggressively change jobs. You should be within range.

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

#94

Post by scarface74 »

michaelt wrote: post #66
scribu wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except this article does address that concern, tangentially: ask the recruiter for the salary range.

Would an employer normally disclose the salary range? I mean, wouldn't candidates then always demand the maximum in the range?

Employers usually don't directly but my experience is that recruiters will always give you the salary range if you ask.

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

#95

Post by scarface74 »

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…

Why wouldn't you have an idea about market range?

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

#96

Post by scarface74 »

gambiting wrote: post #12

Yeah, nice idea, but then when HR comes into play you can't expect logic(or you can, but a very twisted one). I know someone who the engineering team really wanted, but he was paid 65k currently, and he wanted at least 80k, because he would have to move to London. Who did the HR decide to hire? A guy who scored much worse during the interview, but he "only" wanted an increase from 90k to 95k - and HR was prohibited b…

I've heard this before. A little over two years ago, I was asking for what amounted to a 22% increase in salary. I was perfectly within market range with the increase. The HR person said she couldn't authorize this. I politely ended the interview without answering any of her other questions.

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

#97

Post by billybiro »

Firstly, if you're desperate for a job, ignore the advice below. If you're not desperate, and can afford to walk away and move on to the next interview, following the advice below will ensure you're not taken advantage of during the interview and recruiting process.

Two golden, inviolable, rules:

1. Never lie.

2. Never be the first to name a number.

For the "What is you current salary?" question, you can answer with any of the below responses. They get increasing stern, so gauge which one to use based upon your impression of how aggressive the employer is.

- "My current employer does not allow me to discuss the terms of my employment"

- "This position is not exactly the same as my current job, so let’s discuss what my responsibilities would be here and then determine a fair salary for this job."

- "I’m happy to help you evaluate what I’d be worth to your business based upon my skills, experience and the value that I can add to your organisation, but my current salary is personal and confidential, just as the salaries of your own employees are."

For the "What salary are you seeking?" question, use the Noel Smith-Wenkle method (http://infohost.nmt.edu/~shipman/org/noel.html). In a nutshell, you move through the following answers for each time they repeat the question or try to pin you down to a specific figure.

1st answer: "I am much more interested in doing (type of work) here at (name of company) than I am in the size of the initial offer."

2nd answer: "I will consider any reasonable offer."

3rd (and subsequent) answers: "You are in a much better position to know how much I'm worth to you than I am."

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

#98

Post by goldenkey »

praptak wrote: post #58
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.

The final stage hiring negotiators are very often HR personnel and you wont be working with them. Choose your battles. Almost every professional company has a rotting infestation of HR folk. You can definitely find jobs without these bloodsuckers but keep in mind that they know their place and have a narrow scope of interactivity with the employees.

But do try your hand at both methods of discourse if you have the energy and time. Based on my raw experience, I'm confident you'll find the moral highground to be a lost cause when dealing with this one sore part of job acquisition.

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

#99

Post by goldenkey »

alkonaut wrote: post #60
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 hav…

Almost every developed country has tax returns private and protected by law. So your article names two socialist countries out of how many on Earth? Most people here are concerned with the US but thanks for the disclaimer.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/7213

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

#100

Post by alkonaut »

goldenkey wrote: post #99
alkonaut wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 hav…

Almost every developed country has tax returns private and protected by law. So your article names two socialist countries out of how many on Earth? Most people here are concerned with the US but thanks for the disclaimer. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/7213

At least the nordics, I thought. But I also thought the push for tax transparency was coming in other places.
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