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Ask HN: How do you politely refuse to disclose previous salary information?

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Re: Ask HN: How do you politely refuse to disclose previous salary information?

#21

Post by TamDenholm »

One thing you should mention is that while salary isnt your only incentive, not enough salary is a massive disincentive. You may not be taking the job for the money, of course you're taking it because its an awesome company, with awesome people and you love the problem they're working on, however, no matter how amazing it is, if you dont get paid enough, its not worth it.

Its not their job to tell you how much you can live on, they can make an offer, which should ALWAYS be pushed back upon with a counter offer until you come to an arrangement. Also, golden rule in negotiation, is be prepared to walk away, otherwise, you lose.

As Phamilton says, just say "I'd prefer not to disclose that." and perhaps add, "I will take any offer under serious consideration."

Re: Ask HN: How do you politely refuse to disclose previous salary information?

#23

Post by hga »

jqm wrote: post #22
hga wrote: post #7

Nick Corcodilos of Ask the Headhunter has good things to say about this, along with a lot of other stellar advice: http://www.asktheheadhunter.com/

Nick should headhunt someone to fix that site up a bit. Awful.

Yeah, it is. On the other hand, visitors who really need what he's saying will wade through it.

Re: Ask HN: How do you politely refuse to disclose previous salary information?

#25

Post by pjungwir »

trcollinson wrote: post #4

I've never been asked what my living expenses are. I would have been flustered by that question as well, honestly, since it's not up to a company to try to somehow match my living expenses with their pay (unless you live in Japan as a salaryman, of course. patio11 wrote a very enlightening article about that, well worth a read to see the difference in cultures). Anyway, to answer the question. I have been asked many…

I didn't downvote, but your formulas don't make any sense. What is y? What is k? Why are they multiplied together (or subtracted?)? Isn't x - x + yk simply yk?

Also more substantively, if you are already making $x, why would you volunteer that you'll accept $x to move?

Re: Ask HN: How do you politely refuse to disclose previous salary information?

#26

Post by devinmontgomery »

They want to set your old salary as the reference point for your new salary. If you're moving laterally, this isn't awful, but it is if you're looking to move up.

A better anchor (both closer to market and better for you) is to research the median salaries for that type of position in the area. Many job sites (I most recently used Glassdoor for this) give these numbers. It's not perfect, but it's a better starting point.

The actual words I would use are "Well, the median salary for [position] in [City] is $[dollars]. I'm looking for something that pays somewhere in that ballpark." If there are reasons you think you should be paid more than the median (you're very well qualified, the company tends to pay above median, etc), I would wait until after the offer is made, when you're in a stronger position.

Re: Ask HN: How do you politely refuse to disclose previous salary information?

#27

Post by trcollinson »

pjungwir wrote: post #25
trcollinson wrote: post #4

I've never been asked what my living expenses are. I would have been flustered by that question as well, honestly, since it's not up to a company to try to somehow match my living expenses with their pay (unless you live in Japan as a salaryman, of course. patio11 wrote a very enlightening article about that, well worth a read to see the difference in cultures). Anyway, to answer the question. I have been asked many…

I didn't downvote, but your formulas don't make any sense. What is y? What is k? Why are they multiplied together (or subtracted?)? Isn't x - x + yk simply yk? Also more substantively, if you are already making $x, why would you volunteer that you'll accept $x to move?

I see I should be clearer on that formula, you are absolutely right. What I meant was a range of $x to $x + $y(thousand) more. Such that I would take $100,000 to $110,000 depending on other factors such as benefits.

I also should have been clearer in stating that I generally will pick the initial "$x" value of the range by deciding what I want. However, if asked, I will often state this is where I am at my current position, even if it is not my actual salary. I do not often share what my actual salary is.

Re: Ask HN: How do you politely refuse to disclose previous salary information?

#28

Post by marioluigi »

A simple "Sorry - I cannot disclose due to contract signed" should fix the issue. There isn't much the company or recruiter can say beyond this.

Think of a salary negotiation as an Enterprise Sale. Always force the other side to offer a number first and try and try and delay this until they see value in your service (i.e. after the interviews)

Re: Ask HN: How do you politely refuse to disclose previous salary information?

#29

Post by marioluigi »

gesman wrote: post #24

Tell "it's confidential according to the contract I've signed with my previous employer". As a compromise - tell: "it's in the ballpark between A and B", where A was your actual salary and your desired salary is in between A and B.

I would rather not give a range. Anytime you give a range for a quote (even though this is not a quote, it kind of is), the person on the other side will go with the lower value, rendering your higher value meaningless.

Re: Ask HN: How do you politely refuse to disclose previous salary information?

#30

Post by debacle »

hackerboos wrote: post #16
sjs382 wrote: post #15

>> "the employees of this company don't care about how much money they get paid" More for you, then! Seriously though, that's always an uncomfortable question when it comes up. Before accepting my current job, I was interviewing at another place. When asked, I kept my current salary private and was honest about my reasons: "I'd rather not disclose that, because it puts me in a bad situation when it comes to salary ne…

I did one more than that. I lied. I'm not saying that this works all the time or that it's ethical, but sometimes it can result in a significant pay rise.

It's not really any less ethical than trying to strongarm a potential new hire into a salary 10-15k lower than it would have been otherwise, especially when they're likely creating hundreds of thousands in value annually for the company.
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