Current salary on job application/interviews

HangTime

HangTime

HangTime

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Just wanted to get people's views on how to handle "Current Salary" questions on job applications / interviews.

Lets say you apply for a job that doesn't have a fixed salary banding, and the market rate is signficantly higher than your current salary. How do you handle the question about your current salary, bearing in mind that:

a) A big differential gives them a window to offer you below market rates knowing that it still represents a significant rise for you
b) A 'low' current salary may cause them to question how much responsibility you have in your current job, whether you really are as skilled/valuable/important/experienced as you make out.

The way I see it, there are three options:

1) Tell the truth, be confident in your ability to convince them you are the right person for the job, and assume that you will be able to talk them up to a fair salary rather than risk losing you.
2) Inflate your salary to a level that is closer to what they should be paying you for the new role, and hope that if you get the job they won't bother taking any action over it if they find out (e.g. from P60).
3) Play it coy and try to deflect the question, saying it isn't relevant and that you are more interested in knowing what they think you are worth.

I've seen #3 suggested on here before but I am just not convinced, if you dodge a question I can see from their side it may raise more questions than answers.

I know people who have done #2 and it has stood them in good stead, earning them a decent pay rise. I'm a bit too straight-laced for this approach but am starting to wonder whether I should adopt it in future, since realistically once I start a job is an employer likely to want to go through the recruitment process again on the basis of a white lie on the current salary front, given that everything else is factually correct.

#1 I know can work too, some people land themselves decent (40%+) rises this way but I do have fears about how prospective employers view it, in terms of the stigma attached to a 'low' salary.

Obviously when going via an agent they can handle that side of things for you, for the most part, but I have dealt with an agent in the past who quite rigorously questioned my salary expectations vis-a-vis my current salary, which I viewed as irrelevant in relation to my competency for the job in question.

I should point out I'm not currently in the position of having to declare my salary but am interested to know for future reference should it become necessary.
 
There's a magic number which is current salary PLUS a bit.

This is the number you're willing to leave your current job for.

This is the number you should state is your current salary.
 
The_Abyss said:
Tell the truth - they'll see it on your tax details when you join anyway.
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This was always my fear but what I'd be interested to know is whether anyone has actually been pulled up on it before? Also I'd imagine there may be times of year when it is easier to hide e.g. if you quit your old job shortly after the end of the tax year and have your outstanding holiday allowance paid out, overtime etc this could boost it to something not a million miles away from what it would be pro-rata.
 
HangTime said:
This was always my fear but what I'd be interested to know is whether anyone has actually been pulled up on it before? Also I'd imagine there may be times of year when it is easier to hide e.g. if you quit your old job shortly after the end of the tax year and have your outstanding holiday allowance paid out, overtime etc this could boost it to something not a million miles away from what it would be pro-rata.
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Old P60 too.

Far better to be honest and state your case for what you want in the new role. No harm in extra cash being one of the motivations for moving.
 
Tell the truth, its not worth lying about this as you can easily be found out.

Other point is that if they really like you they still need to give you a decent enough offer to make you want to leave your current job (especially if one of your reasons for leaving your current job is that you're underpaid)- if you are sure they're offering below market rate then you can always ask for more, tis them trying to entice you - you're already working and for all they know you may be getting offers from elsewhere, it isn't necessarily in their interests to give you a low ball offer as you might go elsewhere or you might well leave them soon after joining (after all you'll tend to carry on getting pestered by the recruiters you contacted whilst looking for a month or two into starting a new role.)

If they are asking your current rate then they'll probably want to know your expectations too - make it clear to them what you want and that you're interviewing with them plus some other rival firms...
 
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On a side issue, at the moment my salary is probably above market rates due to having been in the role over 20 years

If I ever had to look for a new job how should I approach it ? I know that they would laugh at my current salary but wouldnt want to sell myself short
 
The way I played it was to tell the truth but don't join if they can't hit number you want. Nothing worse than feeling you've sold yourself short.

When you've had a load of interviews and HR get the nod to make an offer you actually have a little bit of power to force them to be reasonable. HR don't want to tell the managers who own the headcount that they failed to get you because they were not even offering market rate.

Stick to your guns, claim to be waiting to hear back from other companies and if you have the balls even decline the offer but say it's a shame because you really felt it was the best place to work but the other company was offering market rate. If they really liked you and it's not a job they can easily fill they'd come back with a better offer.
 
1)


There's no real point in lying if your current employer tells them the real figure. Not that likely, but not impossible. I'd just go with "Currently I'm paid £xk, but one of the main reasons I'm leaving is that I've fallen behind the market rate in my current job." Or words to that effect.



M
 
I've just got a new job and applied with my contested salary, I've been appealling a regrading for the past 12 months and put the salary I will eventually be regraded to as my existing salary. Hopefully my salary will have been corrected before I leave at the end of Nov which will obviously avoid any questions, if it doesn't happen until after I've left I'll be open with them about it. I put the correct salary for my role if someone were to replace me, I don't feel I should be punished more than I already am being financially for my current employers incompetence.

So to summise, 2) but not just my "dream number", there's reasoning behind it.
 
Meridian said:
1)


There's no real point in lying if your current employer tells them the real figure. Not that likely, but not impossible. I'd just go with "Currently I'm paid £xk, but one of the main reasons I'm leaving is that I've fallen behind the market rate in my current job." Or words to that effect.



M
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Yep this.
When I left my first job it was because I was passing exams and my employer refused to take them into account. Eventually it started to become an issue, at interview at least twice the agent got feedback along the lines of "we cannot believe this guys does this work for this money", I changed my interview tack a little at this point.
I started saying that I was looking for new opportunities and that I was worried that whilst I was gaining experience I was falling massively behind on salary and that it could affect my long term career prospects. That seemed to change their views quite nicely.

When I did leave, not long after I took a new approach to that subject I left for approx a 25% payrise. Three months after joining I got another rise that meant I had had a 50% payrise vs my old company. I was told they realised I was potentially worth that at interview but just wanted to check that I really was that good.

Now I would broach the subject differently, I have secured a job on the comment of "please just offer me what you think I am worth to your organisation", and last time quoted a reasonably wide but fair range. Got wacked in the middle last time, and then got a raise to the top a few months ago.

I would probably quote the range again if I was looking, it gives them some scope and you can always negotiate if they offer a poor amount when offering the job. Plenty of people I know will do this, personally I have only once been offered too small an amount to accept an offer.
 
I never answer that one truthfully and I never actually give a figure I always say my 'package is worth in the region of ....' on the very rare occasion I've been asked to explain further I just say it's very difficult to put an actually figure on it with all the benefits, overtime and on call etc.

When you start your new job the poeple who see your P60 will be the accountants not your new boss and they have more important things to worry about, your also highly unlikely to ever get pulled up over it at the end of the day the company who have taken you on will not have paid more than they think you are worth and the cost of recruitment would almost certainly outweigh any extra they gave you as a result of your slight exageration.
 
I always learned the first one to mention money loses the negotiation,

so i tend to make them talk about it first by telling them salary isnt the main factor in job change etc etc.
 
Option 2. If I know I'm under, I push it up. Sure, course. Never had an issue. I wouldn't over inflate my salary to a stupid point as they would just not be interested in offering, but market value or just above.

Don't normally have to now, but I did and have done and never had an issue.
 
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