Current salary on job application/interviews

[a1ex2001]

Or a liar with no job when they find out?

That will never ever happen, regardless of what you tell them they will never offer you more than they think your worth and if you don't actually state a number but state 'A total package of around ...' then you haven't really lied. Recruitment costs are massive so it's not worth them getting shot of you aver a few k on your salary.

Wouldn't salary be one thing which a co pay would actuall hand over in a reference.

I've certainly never heard of or seen salary in a refference, these days the most you get out of all the biggest companies it a quick 'Joe Blogs worked for us from x to y his current job title is blah and he has had z sick days in the last 12 months'

 

[robgmun]

I've done #2 quite a few times, it was the only way to advance at all with my salary. If it's a medium to large company you can lie through your teeth about salary and they'll never check it out. But whatever you do, don't lie about qualifications/work experiance! That's the one that catches you out! (never happened to me but i've see loads of people around me get fired because they thought they could lie about it)

 

[tlrBeta]

I usually ignore the question unless specifically asked by an agency for example.

 

[HangTime]

As I suspected, no real consensus of opinion

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.

This is kind of where my head is at, in the past I've been in the position of having changed jobs but then feeling I need to change jobs soon after because I was still earning under market rate despite getting a moderate raise (e.g. going from being underpaid by 40% to 20%). I've actually decided that might be something I'd bring up in negotiation, stating that I don't want to find myself in a position where I'm still a long way short of market rates. My attitude, albeit somewhat naive, is that if an employer is willing to see past current salary and pay me a fair salary then they are probably the sort of company I'd want to work for, instead of one that needs to be hoodwinked into it.

one of the main reasons I'm leaving is that I've fallen behind the market rate in my current job

I was always told that using salary as a primary motivator for changing jobs looks bad because it doesn't show ambition to join the company in question, but rather just a way to earn more money and thus create a fear that as soon as a better offer comes up you'll be on your bike.

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.

Works OK for an interview / HR bod question, but if you have to state it in writing on a form there's a lot less wiggle room.

whatever you do, don't lie about qualifications/work experiance!

I've never seen the need to lie about qualifications as I've always been overqualified for every job I've applied for (or at least not underqualified). As for experience I'm too much of a goody two-shoes to lie about that, although it is tempting in cases where I know I've effectively done a more advanced role than my job title would suggest.

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

Absolutely not, if I did this at all it would be a case of inflating it to below market rates and then using that as a platform to ask for a modest increase to hit market rate, as opposed to a big increase. Example (numbers plucked out of the air so not directly relevant to me):

Market rate = £45-55k
Current salary = £35k
Inflated current salary = ~£40-42k
Target salary = £45-50k

If I went down this route I certainly wouldn't be stating anything outlandish - my target would never be anything more than market rate.

 

[dowie]

Market rate = £45-55k
Current salary = £35k
Inflated current salary = ~£40-42k
Target salary = £45-50k

If you were supposedly on £42k then why on earth would you want to move for merely a few grand (OK perhpas 55k but not the lower end of that bracket) considering that, if you were any good, your current firm would be making a counter offer and also you'd be within the rate you're after at next payrise anyway without the added risk involved with moving.

Stick with truth IMO - its hardly unreasonable for someone on £35k to want £45k+ in order to jump ship. It would be really stupid to gain and then quickly lose a new job because you made up a blatant lie.

 

[King Damager]

I think it would depend on how long you've been at the current company...

Say you're on 35k atm, but market rate is 45k-55k. Well you could argue if you've been at the company for a long time (5-10 years) maybe it could be that you haven't had a pay rise because of various reasons etc... ?

kd

 

[dowie]

I still think something like this is a blatant lie and can be checked - honesty is important and if you start out at your new employer as someone who has quite knowingly bull****ed then it really won't do you much good.

(Unless you're in sales in which case I guess honesty is a hindrance)

 

[HangTime]

^^maybe a bad choice of numbers, stretch them a bit. I just worry about how it looks if you earn say 30% below market rate, whether that sets alarm bells ringing in terms of whether your experience matches up to what it should do for a given role. robskinner's post seems to confirm my fears:

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"

In other words as I highlighted in the OP the issue is twofold, it isn't just about wanting to secure a fair salary moving forward, but also ensuring that people don't derive negative views about your competence based on salary.

Ultimately I think when the time comes for me to move jobs again I want to avoid a situation where I get screwed over on salary, the easy answer is just to refuse any offer below market rates but then there's the risk that I'd end up having to stay in my current job longer than necessary, and thus falling further behind in net earnings and potentially career development.