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I've personally experienced this. Salary is taken as a proxy for ability. After the dot com crash, I took lower paid work in the public sector, working on som
by MattPalmer1086 4y ago
I've personally experienced this. Salary is taken as a proxy for ability.
After the dot com crash, I took lower paid work in the public sector, working on some interesting things.
I was approached by a recruiter to work for a company that was basically the best possible fit. They were working on a product category that I had helped to define at a previous start up, where I was the chief technical architect.
Once I told the recruiter my current salary, he was no longer interested. He even sounded aghast. Couldn't possibly put me forward for the role.
- candu 4y agoI've done work in the public sector before. Here's what I told recruiters who asked for my salary history after that: "In my previous job, I deliberately took a below-market rate to work in the public sector, as a form of service to my community. I don't consider that salary relevant for this discussion." End of story. I'm fortunate to be in a place where broader salary statistics are available, so from there I simply redirected the conversation to "here's what I'm seeing as the range of market rates here, and why I think I deserve to be on the high end of that", and that was fine. Remember: in this industry, your BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated agreement) is...just walk away, and answer the next recruiter who's begging for your time. If they can't consider putting you forward because of an arbitrary number from a non-comparable position, well, that's their problem and their loss.
- MattPalmer1086 4y agoThat works. As you say, it was their loss, but the reaction surprised me at the time. I didn't have any problems negotiating a better salary when I finally left.