Re: Salary info

[Robert Plamondon <robert -at- PLAMONDON -dot- COM>]

Matthew J. Long writes:

>When being courted by a company's HR person, it seems that they
>always want to know what salary I am currently earning. Do you think
>that it is bad to reveal this information in terms of negotiating my
>salary later with the hiring manager? Should I keep that to myself,
>or does it even matter? I have a full time job, so I feel like I
>have the one-up position here to ask for what I want with nothing to
>compel me (e.g. paying the bills) to settle for what they are
>offering.

When filling out a form, I would leave all blanks having to do with
current salary and desired salary empty.

It's very important to remove your current base salary from the
discussion.  People like to think in terms of percentages:  it
sounds like a lot for someone to get a 25% pay increase by changing
jobs, but it isn't if they were underpaid by 30% in their old job!

The answer to "How much money are you making now?" is: "I prefer
not to say.  How much money are you offering?"  Most interviewers
will express the same reluctance to reveal their numbers that
you are to reveal yours, so a suggestion that money issues may
be premature will be allowed to stand.

In the end, of course, the negotiation must take place.  A successful
negotiation will leave you satisfied.  How to negotiate successfully
depends partly on what things are most important to you.  Try to
figure out what you want, and what you'll settle for.  You're almost
always your own worst enemy when negotiating.

        -- Robert

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