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Has it occurred to anyone that salary at a previous position is not relevant to
salary for a different position? Who hasn't heard the maxim, stated in some
variation of the following, "We aren't paying you what YOU are worth; we're
paying what the JOB is worth." Shouldn't the same sort of thinking apply to the
candidate for a position?
I think it is perfectly legitimate to NOT answer the question about what you're
currently making or what you made in your previous position or even what you
expect to make. Salary IS a negotiation, and in my experience it IS true that
whoever mentions money first loses.
If you ask me, "What are you currently making?" (or its variant, "What did you
make in your previous situation?), my answer--put nicely, politely, and
sincerely is something like this: "From what I know about this position, my
previous income may not be relevant. Can you tell me what the range is for the
position you are filling?" Another variant I have used is, "That job was/is so
different from this one, that comparisons probably aren't useful. Do you have a
figure in mind for the position we're discussing?" (Notice, that I always try
to turn the question around and get them to name a figure or a range first. I
can then reply that their range is within the range I'm looking for or that
perhaps we want to discuss the total package, as salary is only one component.)
You can play endless variations on the above. My point is that you are bidding
for a job, whether it's so called permanent, contract, or temporary. *I* may be
worth a seven figure sum, but that has nothing to do with what folks are
willing to pay for the job on offer. You want to know what THEY think the job
is worth to them. Then you can decide whether you're willing to sell yourself
for that figure.
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Tom Murrell
Lead Technical Writer
Alliance Data Systems
Columbus, Ohio mailto:tmurrell -at- columbus -dot- rr -dot- com
Personal Web Page - http://home.columbus.rr.com/murrell/
Page Last Updated 07/15/01
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