Re: Questions Re: Previous Salary

["Wilcox, John (WWC, Contractor)" <wilcoxj -at- WDNI -dot- COM>]

 ----------
From: Kathy Fisher

I'm interested in what you think about recruiters and headhunters who
ask
what your salary or hourly rate was on your last assignment.  Is it a
fair
and appropriate question?  Should we tell them?  Is it any of their
business?
 How do you handle such inquiries?  Rates can differ from state to
state,
depending on the market.  My feeling is that previous salaries have no
relevance to the current job being offerered, especially if it's
out-of-state
where the standard rates may be higher.
 ------------------

(You might want to check the techwr-l archives.  This subject has been
covered within the last year.)

My feeling, like yours, is that previous salaries are irrelevant.  I
always turn the question around and ask the prospective employer what
the job is worth to them.  When I first started contracting through an
agency, I disclosed my previous salaries.  I think they have a right --
or at least should be accorded the privilege -- to know, because it CAN
be SOME indication of your level.  But, IMO, the portfolio of past works
should be the clincher.  If you were underpaid at the previous job, the
interviewer will (or at least should) know from perusing the portfolio.
The downside of disclosing is that it can work against you if you were
making an exhorbitant rate at the previous job.  The next guy may write
you off as "overqualified."


Regards,

John Wilcox, Documentation Specialist
Timberlands Information Services, Application Delivery Group
Weyerhaeuser, WWC 2E2, Box 2999
Tacoma, WA 98477-2999  USA
253-924-7972  mailto:wilcoxj -at- wdni -dot- com
(I don't speak for Weyerhaeuser, and they return the favor.)


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