3 ms·

As an aside, isn't that question inherently just flat out wrong? Q: 'What's your current salary?' A: 'Why does it matter? What am I worth to you?'

morgante 10y ago
Or you can use the anchoring effect mentioned in the article to your advantage. Q: 'What's your current salary?' A: 'I can't disclose my current salary, but I'd be looking for something around $1.5x to come on board.' where x is your preferred salary.
disease 10y ago
I'm currently in an underpayed development position and am trying to get to market rate, yet every recruiter and HR person asks this question. Anyone have any idea what would happen if I just refused to answer it and use the 'I'm looking to be paid what I'm worth to the company' line?
- x3n0ph3n3 10y ago
  Try it and find out!
- kmonsen 10y ago
  Just tell them what you would like to get. If pressed super hard, give confusing answers in the same way companies give you. Like total compensation, if you add days off, perks etc.
- cannam 10y ago
  My most uncomfortable interview experience (nearly 20 years ago) came about because of this problem. I was working in a job I enjoyed, but that didn't pay well. The money had started to become a problem and I started looking for something better-paid. (This was London in 1997 -- I was being paid about £25K and I hoped for more like £35K.) I used a recruiter, I told them my current salary and what I hoped to get, and they got me a promising-looking interview. Cut to the interview, and one of the first questions they ask is "Why do you think we should pay you ten grand more than you're getting at the moment?" Hindsight gives me many ways to answer this, but at the time I just sat there with my mouth open. I had no idea the agent had told them my current salary, so I was completely unprepared. I was dimly aware that a proper answer would express something about my value to the company, so I couldn't just say "I need more money". I eventually muttered something about that seeming to be roughly the market rate, and the interview was effectively over.
- agilebyte 10y ago
  Ask a friend to pay you $1 for contract work that takes you half a minute. Draft a contract if you have to. There, now you are "allowed" to say you've been paid $120/hour.
- phamilton 10y ago
  I've refused and gotten away with it.
agilebyte 10y ago
It's not wrong if you want to save on salaries of your staff. I suspect that the people that answer with a $ number rather than the way you did, are less likely to assert themselves and thus consistently take lower salaries.
geofft 10y ago
Q: "Sorry, we can't proceed without this information." If you're a highly-competitive candidate with multiple offers, that's fine, you can ignore this company or convince them to give you an offer anyway—but if you're the sort of person who would be strongly hurt by revealing your old salary, that doesn't help you because you're also probably less competitive, at least on paper. So this very response exacerbates the gap. Alternatively, Q (aside): "She's pretty abrasive, should we really hire her?" There are studies that this sort of self-confidence is often perceived as a positive attribute in men and a negative attribute in women.

morgante 10y ago

Or you can use the anchoring effect mentioned in the article to your advantage. Q: 'What's your current salary?' A: 'I can't disclose my current salary, but I'd be looking for something around $1.5x to come on board.' where x is your preferred salary.

disease 10y ago

I'm currently in an underpayed development position and am trying to get to market rate, yet every recruiter and HR person asks this question. Anyone have any idea what would happen if I just refused to answer it and use the 'I'm looking to be paid what I'm worth to the company' line?

x3n0ph3n3 10y ago
Try it and find out!
kmonsen 10y ago
Just tell them what you would like to get. If pressed super hard, give confusing answers in the same way companies give you. Like total compensation, if you add days off, perks etc.
cannam 10y ago
My most uncomfortable interview experience (nearly 20 years ago) came about because of this problem. I was working in a job I enjoyed, but that didn't pay well. The money had started to become a problem and I started looking for something better-paid. (This was London in 1997 -- I was being paid about £25K and I hoped for more like £35K.) I used a recruiter, I told them my current salary and what I hoped to get, and they got me a promising-looking interview. Cut to the interview, and one of the first questions they ask is "Why do you think we should pay you ten grand more than you're getting at the moment?" Hindsight gives me many ways to answer this, but at the time I just sat there with my mouth open. I had no idea the agent had told them my current salary, so I was completely unprepared. I was dimly aware that a proper answer would express something about my value to the company, so I couldn't just say "I need more money". I eventually muttered something about that seeming to be roughly the market rate, and the interview was effectively over.
agilebyte 10y ago
Ask a friend to pay you $1 for contract work that takes you half a minute. Draft a contract if you have to. There, now you are "allowed" to say you've been paid $120/hour.
phamilton 10y ago
I've refused and gotten away with it.

agilebyte 10y ago

It's not wrong if you want to save on salaries of your staff. I suspect that the people that answer with a $ number rather than the way you did, are less likely to assert themselves and thus consistently take lower salaries.

geofft 10y ago

Q: "Sorry, we can't proceed without this information." If you're a highly-competitive candidate with multiple offers, that's fine, you can ignore this company or convince them to give you an offer anyway—but if you're the sort of person who would be strongly hurt by revealing your old salary, that doesn't help you because you're also probably less competitive, at least on paper. So this very response exacerbates the gap. Alternatively, Q (aside): "She's pretty abrasive, should we really hire her?" There are studies that this sort of self-confidence is often perceived as a positive attribute in men and a negative attribute in women.