4 ms·

Re: your article: > Disclosing your salary can turn a potential double digit raise when changing jobs to a few percent raise. You could leave thousands, or eve

Re: your article: > Disclosing your salary can turn a potential double digit raise when changing jobs to a few percent raise. You could leave thousands, or even tens of thousands of dollars on the table. But isn't it possible for this to happen in the opposite direction? I.e., turning a pay cut into a small raise.

MisterBastahrd 5y ago
Here's my unvarnished opinion as a former recruiter turned developer... You would have to be a complete and utter moron to truthfully relate your current or former pay history to a potential employer. There are two primary things that they are doing when they ask for your salary history: 1. They want to know whether they can get you for cheap 2. They want to know the rates that the market is setting for a person of your talent level You never have to be truthful about what you were paid and why you left unless you are in a profession that requires such information to be disclosed. Add 20% and let them negotiate you down to what you are willing to move for. Any employer that isn't competent enough to price your talent versus the market is an employer who will screw you over in the future.
- cushychicken 5y ago
  This guy recruits. Talk to recruiters like you cultivate mushrooms. Feed em shit, and keep em in the dark.
- BizarroLand 5y ago
  What I do is combine all of my current salary & benefits (including counting my PTO as additional "base" salary) and then round that up to the nearest $2.5k. I have that number ready so that if I mention my previous salary I have a number that amounts to the value of my current or previous job to me to set the base for the upcoming one. Example: If your salary is $25/hr with 2 weeks PTO and other Perks valued at 5% annual salary (401k matching, health insurance, work perks like food or discounts, etc.) That is $52k + $2k + ~$3k = ~$57k rounded up to $57.5k is the "Previous" annual salary I would represent. That poses you as someone who would "jump ship" for $60k + similar benefits when in reality it would be a 15% pay raise to have the same benefits + an additional $8k a year. It's a win all around. The recruiter thinks they're getting a deal, you know you're getting a deal, and everyone is happy and no one is the wiser.
cushychicken 5y ago
isn't it possible for this to happen in the opposite direction? I.e., turning a pay cut into a small raise. It is, but that's only something that can happen when you allow the company to make the first offer. If they do, and they undershoot your current comp, it likely means that: * they have no idea how to price your skills against the market rate, * they are strapped for cash, and trying to get you at a bargain price, or * they are simply trying to lowball you and see what you do. You can counter by saying something to the effect of "Thanks, but that represents a pay cut for me, and that doesn't make financial sense for me right now." An honest mistake will result in them hustling to redo the offer to your liking. I don't know thst I've ever seen an honest mistake of this kind from a recruiter. They simply have too much data for me to believe that. None of these scenarios are a great look for a company that wants to recruit you. Seeing these from a company offering me a job leaves me pretty hesitant to work for them. To me, it telegraphs either amateurism, or bad faith negotiations. The one exception to this - and, I gotta say, this tradeoff has never made financial sense to me, personally - is to take a pay cut to work at a startup. At that point, you're swapping pay for the opportunity to learn or advance your career in some other way.

MisterBastahrd 5y ago

Here's my unvarnished opinion as a former recruiter turned developer... You would have to be a complete and utter moron to truthfully relate your current or former pay history to a potential employer. There are two primary things that they are doing when they ask for your salary history: 1. They want to know whether they can get you for cheap 2. They want to know the rates that the market is setting for a person of your talent level You never have to be truthful about what you were paid and why you left unless you are in a profession that requires such information to be disclosed. Add 20% and let them negotiate you down to what you are willing to move for. Any employer that isn't competent enough to price your talent versus the market is an employer who will screw you over in the future.

cushychicken 5y ago
This guy recruits. Talk to recruiters like you cultivate mushrooms. Feed em shit, and keep em in the dark.
BizarroLand 5y ago
What I do is combine all of my current salary & benefits (including counting my PTO as additional "base" salary) and then round that up to the nearest $2.5k. I have that number ready so that if I mention my previous salary I have a number that amounts to the value of my current or previous job to me to set the base for the upcoming one. Example: If your salary is $25/hr with 2 weeks PTO and other Perks valued at 5% annual salary (401k matching, health insurance, work perks like food or discounts, etc.) That is $52k + $2k + ~$3k = ~$57k rounded up to $57.5k is the "Previous" annual salary I would represent. That poses you as someone who would "jump ship" for $60k + similar benefits when in reality it would be a 15% pay raise to have the same benefits + an additional $8k a year. It's a win all around. The recruiter thinks they're getting a deal, you know you're getting a deal, and everyone is happy and no one is the wiser.

cushychicken 5y ago

isn't it possible for this to happen in the opposite direction? I.e., turning a pay cut into a small raise. It is, but that's only something that can happen when you allow the company to make the first offer. If they do, and they undershoot your current comp, it likely means that: * they have no idea how to price your skills against the market rate, * they are strapped for cash, and trying to get you at a bargain price, or * they are simply trying to lowball you and see what you do. You can counter by saying something to the effect of "Thanks, but that represents a pay cut for me, and that doesn't make financial sense for me right now." An honest mistake will result in them hustling to redo the offer to your liking. I don't know thst I've ever seen an honest mistake of this kind from a recruiter. They simply have too much data for me to believe that. None of these scenarios are a great look for a company that wants to recruit you. Seeing these from a company offering me a job leaves me pretty hesitant to work for them. To me, it telegraphs either amateurism, or bad faith negotiations. The one exception to this - and, I gotta say, this tradeoff has never made financial sense to me, personally - is to take a pay cut to work at a startup. At that point, you're swapping pay for the opportunity to learn or advance your career in some other way.