4 ms·

Then they are screwing around. At that stage they have your resume and know your experience. I tell recruiters my salary to save time but ymmv.

by aristus 14y ago

sp332 14y ago
Why? Tell them what you're looking for, not what you have now. "A potted plant could handle a salary negotiation better than many people (myself included at one point) -- at least the potted plant wouldn't divulge a salary history when asked." -tptacek https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3290033 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3290033
- aristus 14y ago
  Like I said, ymmv. I have no complaints.
- kls 14y ago
  I actually had a company that once asked for current pay stubs, they where a staffing firm and we had already negotiate the rate at which I was willing to take the job. Part of their process of on-boarding was that I had to submit three current pay stubs. I protested and they assured me that it would not be used as a lever to drive down the already negotiated salary. I agreed to submit them, but I also included a poison pill stipulation that if they tried to negotiate salary after they where submitted that my salary requirement would go to 120% of what we negotiated. Sure enough they saw that I was making far less than what we negotiated and thought that they had leverage. They tried to reduce the offer by a little more than 25%. What they did not account for was that I had another offer that was only a little less than the original agreed upon rate. I stuck to the 120% poison pill, but accepted the offer from the other company, because even if they would have accepted the rate, the well was already fouled.
  - Simucal 14y ago
    How did this poison pill work? Did you simply state it verbally or in an email? In a contract?
    - kls 14y ago
      Just verbally when they sprung the 3 pay stubs requirement on me. I kind of knew where it was heading but they said it was standard practice to verify employment. Mentally I was over it, but I submitted them more out of curiosity to see if a company would actually stoop to such practices. It was right when the .com bust happened and a lot of companies now felt like they had the upper hand.
      - kls 14y ago
        Sorry I forgot to mention, after I declined the reduced rate and told them I would not be taking the position, they countered with a rate that was %10 below what the original offer was, stating that no one can reasonable expect to gain a 35% increase in salary by just moving jobs, but I was underpaid at the job I was at (A start-up that did not have a lot of capital) and the rate, I was looking for was only slightly above market. When I refused that, they then came back with the original offer and when I refused that they came back with %10 above what we had agreed on. I did not let them drag it out any further and notified them that I was taking another offer. The thing was, their client was a large online travel company and I have worked on a lot of the travel systems people use every day. My background read like the job description they where looking for. So I am sure they had to do a lot of explaining as to why they lost the perfect candidate. Their client is a household name in travel and they where extremely happy that I was coming on-board, I am sure they held their clients feet to the fire with my background and where just looking to squeeze out more profit by taking it out of my end. They got greedy and it cost them.
  - philsnow 14y ago
    What justification could they possibly have had for wanting to see your pay stubs, other than looking for ways they could stiff you? Did you reply saying anything like "I'm happy to provide proof of current employment." ?
    - kls 14y ago
      No I just made the poison pill stipulation and started working on the contingency. I pretty much knew what they where going to do, I submitted them more out of curiosity to see if someone would have the audacity to do something like that. But at the point they asked for them and gave such a weak justification, I had pretty much mentally moved on, but curiosity forced me to submit them to see and gave me a war story to tell.

Then they are screwing around. At that stage they have your resume and know your experience. I tell recruiters my salary to save time but ymmv.

by aristus 14y ago

Then they are screwing around. At that stage they have your resume and know your experience. I tell recruiters my salary to save time but ymmv.

sp332 14y ago

Why? Tell them what you're looking for, not what you have now. "A potted plant could handle a salary negotiation better than many people (myself included at one point) -- at least the potted plant wouldn't divulge a salary history when asked." -tptacek https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3290033 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3290033

aristus 14y ago
Like I said, ymmv. I have no complaints.
kls 14y ago
I actually had a company that once asked for current pay stubs, they where a staffing firm and we had already negotiate the rate at which I was willing to take the job. Part of their process of on-boarding was that I had to submit three current pay stubs. I protested and they assured me that it would not be used as a lever to drive down the already negotiated salary. I agreed to submit them, but I also included a poison pill stipulation that if they tried to negotiate salary after they where submitted that my salary requirement would go to 120% of what we negotiated. Sure enough they saw that I was making far less than what we negotiated and thought that they had leverage. They tried to reduce the offer by a little more than 25%. What they did not account for was that I had another offer that was only a little less than the original agreed upon rate. I stuck to the 120% poison pill, but accepted the offer from the other company, because even if they would have accepted the rate, the well was already fouled.
- Simucal 14y ago
  How did this poison pill work? Did you simply state it verbally or in an email? In a contract?
  - kls 14y ago
    Just verbally when they sprung the 3 pay stubs requirement on me. I kind of knew where it was heading but they said it was standard practice to verify employment. Mentally I was over it, but I submitted them more out of curiosity to see if a company would actually stoop to such practices. It was right when the .com bust happened and a lot of companies now felt like they had the upper hand.
    - kls 14y ago
      Sorry I forgot to mention, after I declined the reduced rate and told them I would not be taking the position, they countered with a rate that was %10 below what the original offer was, stating that no one can reasonable expect to gain a 35% increase in salary by just moving jobs, but I was underpaid at the job I was at (A start-up that did not have a lot of capital) and the rate, I was looking for was only slightly above market. When I refused that, they then came back with the original offer and when I refused that they came back with %10 above what we had agreed on. I did not let them drag it out any further and notified them that I was taking another offer. The thing was, their client was a large online travel company and I have worked on a lot of the travel systems people use every day. My background read like the job description they where looking for. So I am sure they had to do a lot of explaining as to why they lost the perfect candidate. Their client is a household name in travel and they where extremely happy that I was coming on-board, I am sure they held their clients feet to the fire with my background and where just looking to squeeze out more profit by taking it out of my end. They got greedy and it cost them.
- philsnow 14y ago
  What justification could they possibly have had for wanting to see your pay stubs, other than looking for ways they could stiff you? Did you reply saying anything like "I'm happy to provide proof of current employment." ?
  - kls 14y ago
    No I just made the poison pill stipulation and started working on the contingency. I pretty much knew what they where going to do, I submitted them more out of curiosity to see if someone would have the audacity to do something like that. But at the point they asked for them and gave such a weak justification, I had pretty much mentally moved on, but curiosity forced me to submit them to see and gave me a war story to tell.