Re: Questions re: previous salary

[Martha J Davidson <editrix -at- SLIP -dot- NET>]

At 11:38 AM 11/22/97 -0500, Jim Chevallier wrote:
>
>Nobody by the way has addressed the far thornier issue of revealing previous
>*salaries* when changing jobs.  Rugged individualist that I am, even I don't
>see any way (besides lying) around that.
>
I noticed that too, Jim.  Here's what I've done to work around revealing
information that I think could have damaged my chances of getting the
salary I was aiming for.

Several years ago, after a(nother?) layoff, I discovered how much lower my
salary was than it could be.  When I was talking with recruiters, rather
than just tell them the current number, I added an explanation.  At that
time, I'd recently moved from being a software engineer to a tech pubs
manager/senior writer, and had accepted a relatively low salary to make the
transition.  The company that had just laid us off was also on salary
freeze.  I explained to recruiters and prospective employers that I had
started this job at a low rate, and that combined with the layoff and
salary freeze, had I not been laid off, my salary should have been XXX
rather than the actual YYY, and therefore, I was looking for a new position
at salary ZZZ.  Once I figured out how I wanted to say it, doing it this
way worked.  I got nearly what I was asking for, and put myself in range to
get a salary I could live with, which I did, after the next layoff and a
similar explanation.  Not once did I say anything untrue, which felt
important.

Anyone else?  How have you handled the previous salary (as opposed to
contracting rate) question?
--
Martha Jane {Kolman | Davidson}
editrix -at- slip -dot- net / mjk -at- synon -dot- com
Senior Technical Writer

"If I am not for myself, who will be for me?
 If I am only for myself, what am I?
 If not now, when?"
        --Hillel, "Mishna, Sayings of the Fathers 1:13"

	http://www.documentation.com/, or http://www.dejanews.com/