Using a headhunter is often discouraged because they'll take a cut of your salary for the first X months. Thus if you can get placed via your own connections yo

Using a headhunter is often discouraged because they'll take a cut of your salary for the first X months. Thus if you can get placed via your own connections you can plausibly get a higher salary because they won't be paying the headhunter as well. Telling a potential employer how much you're making now is often discouraged because it gives them a perceived valuation for you, which might make them reluctant to go too much higher.