for the record, i've always disclosed my salary information directly when asked during the offer phase, this was in america. i agree with mr. sethi that this i

for the record, i've always disclosed my salary information directly when asked during the offer phase, this was in america. i agree with mr. sethi that this information should include all benefits, that's actually sage advice, stock options, gym benefits, that should all be factored in or else you're selling yourself short. in china it seems that HR and headhunters really want to know about your salary information even before you're offered an interview, perhaps this is to save everybody time if say your expectations are widely over the range. hr for each company typically gets a benchmark against other companies for a certain position, this offers them a range, high, low, average. the question really becomes where they place you in that range, if you tell them what you're currently making, they'll probably just throw you a standard overage on top of your current and make sure it fits the range. if you don't tell them what you're currently making, they'll just try to guess where to put you in that range, if the hiring manager really wants you then you're probably in luck, this also has advantages if you're relatively certain that you're underpaid as you could see increases well over your current salary + overage. either way, i don't believe in lying about your salary even though you know they probably have no way to check.