This is part of why potential employers in California aren’t permitted to ask you your current salary. My starting salary in 1994 was (converting to USD), $18,

This is part of why potential employers in California aren’t permitted to ask you your current salary. My starting salary in 1994 was (converting to USD), $18,000 by 2001 I was earning $84,000 (my last salary in the UK) Starting salary doesn’t have to be a limitation, it is an uphill climb, but it’s not on your “permanent record”