I'm trying to move up the pay scale and I would rather not reveal an embarrassing low salary I accepted for a past full time position. Will my application be tossed if I enter a dash in the text box.
I'm trying to move up the pay scale and I would rather not reveal an embarrassing low salary I accepted for a past full time position. Will my application be tossed if I enter a dash in the text box.
The question is there because a higher previous salary can mean that you were very good at your position and recieved promotions. I'd look up the high end salary for your previous position and write that number in the place. During the interview you can always say that you started at a lower salary and were promoted. Leaving it blank won't necessarily disqualify you from the position, but putting too low of a number will hurt you in negotiating for a bigger salary.
**** wrote:
The question is there because a higher previous salary can mean that you were very good at your position and recieved promotions. I'd look up the high end salary for your previous position and write that number in the place. During the interview you can always say that you started at a lower salary and were promoted. Leaving it blank won't necessarily disqualify you from the position, but putting too low of a number will hurt you in negotiating for a bigger salary.
Beware- sometimes HR will ask you to furnish a pay slip to confirm your past salary.
D+ wrote:
I'm trying to move up the pay scale and I would rather not reveal an embarrassing low salary I accepted for a past full time position. Will my application be tossed if I enter a dash in the text box.
YES. Give them the salary. In fact, they will probably REALLY want to talk to you because they think they can get you for less (AND, there might be a happy medium where they can get you for less than someone else but still YOU get a decent raise). You just have to be clear with them if it gets to salary talk time that you aren't looking for the same salary...you're looking to move up in the world.
Advice time - There are lots of ways to make yourself attractive to employers, and ONE of them is to not ask for the moon with the salary. I once snagged a job when I was up against 3 other good candidates because I told them (I offered this; they didn't have to ask) I would take $5,000 than they were advertising the position for. The dude was pleased and floored. He started me at $4,000 less than the advertised salary, those others had to go on looking, and then a year from then he gave me an 11% raise to "bring me up to where I should have been." If you want or need the job, make yourself attractive. As a person who has since hired and sifted through resumes, I have often passed on people who were simply asking for too much money. Put ego out the window and really think about a salary that would make you happy to go into work and do a great job. Get that job instead of others who are asking $10,000 more than you.
Never give them a previous salary. Don't listen to people who tell you to give them a salary. Are you people serious? It ruins your ability to negotiate and could quite literally cost you $100k or more over the course of your career.
For instance, in Flagpole's story above he probably would've been hired regardless. So he just told the guy, "here's $5000 free of charge!". Then the guy "graciously" gave him a raise that brought him up to the starting salary, meaning Flagpole made $5000 less than he should have every year he worked that job.
Greentexter wrote:
For instance, in Flagpole's story above he probably would've been hired regardless. So he just told the guy, "here's $5000 free of charge!". Then the guy "graciously" gave him a raise that brought him up to the starting salary, meaning Flagpole made $5000 less than he should have every year he worked that job.
1) I have interviewed candidates for many companies for which I consult, and some of them require a previous salary. Those that do will NOT consider the candidate if they do not provide the salary. Usually when a company asks for certain information, especially in a tough job market, you'd better provide it. The power goes to the one offering the job in MOST cases, not the other way around.
2) Totally incorrect about my personal situation at that job. I was in a very tough competition for that job, and I REALLY wanted it...nice job and it was going to allow me to move back to Ohio with our then one-year-old so that my wife could stay at home. I put myself in the lead by offering that, AND then he only took $4,000 off that anyway, so I started $4,000 down which was $5,000 up from what I was making in what was a much more expensive city; this was a big raise for me, so I was pleased. Just a short year from then, he gave me an 11% raise...a raise much higher than anyone else got, because I had come in at such a low salary. That particular boss was a really good guy and always cared deeply that we all make a competitive salary.
If you have a very unique or especially valuable skill, then you can be a little more aggressive with salary requests, but for MOST people, it's best to get that job. Then, just outwork anyone they've ever even heard of.
Never, ever disclose previous salary
This is a judgement call on your part. If you know someone who works for the company (or a recruiter even) find out what they recommend so that you will get full consideration while still putting yourself in the best light.
It is possible that a job application will be viewed as "incomplete" by a recruiter if you don't indicate your past salary on a job application, and you won't be considered further, and the recruiter won't bother to contact you for the missing information when they have other "complete" applications to review.
I know of one example with a public sector employer where this was the case. Further, making a higher salary in a previous job would help to justify getting a comparable offer.
Having said that, as a general practice, you should abstain from putting past salary on a job application until you have a job offer, and then you can negotiate a salary.
If you are applying for a job with your current employer, they should be able have access to this information, or you can provide it, or both.
Some (previous) employers will use a 3rd party employment verification service after you separate from a job. You will get a passcode to give to a future employer to verify your dates of employment and last salary. You don't want to lie about something that can be verified like a past salary. You are better off indicating that you think you can do better with a new job (offer).
I would say leave it blank. I have seem job apps ask for salary "demands". I leave them blank.
You have a better chance of screwing yourself over.
1) You put in an amount that is higher than they want to pay, but you would take less. They weed you out.
2) You put in a low amount so they can offer you less than they would be willing to pay.
What irks me (as a tangent) is when places do not list at least a base salary or a range. They have budgeted for the position so they have an idea of at least a top number (commissions and bonuses are different). By not listing they might exclude folks who would have been interested. They might attract a lot of folks who are not qualified, but you know they are going to get those anyway.
It also saves time. I interviewed for a job many years ago and at the end of the interview I asked for the salary range. It was less than I was making at the time (and the cost of living was not any lower). They wasted my time and their's.
knowerofwhatshouldbeobvious wrote:
**** wrote:The question is there because a higher previous salary can mean that you were very good at your position and recieved promotions. I'd look up the high end salary for your previous position and write that number in the place. During the interview you can always say that you started at a lower salary and were promoted. Leaving it blank won't necessarily disqualify you from the position, but putting too low of a number will hurt you in negotiating for a bigger salary.
Beware- sometimes HR will ask you to furnish a pay slip to confirm your past salary.
And that could be grounds for rescinding the offer--lying on the application.
Deciding to leave the salary question blank is just the stuff of machoism. You can go ahead and leave it blank if you want, but I'm telling you, way more often than not, you will not get an interview then. They only put it as a question if they want you to answer it.
The linked article about giving the company the upper hand in negotiating is silly. Regardless of your previous salary, you can (and should) go into any job interview with the amount of money you want to make. So what that your previous salary was $30,000. You tell the new company that you want $50,000 (hopefully you've done your research that tells you that someone in that job with your experience level should make that). When the interviewer says, "You are only making $30,000 now", you say, "Yes. I have outgrown that job and the salary it provides which is one reason why I'm in front of you today." So, they come back and offer $46,000. Do you take it? Perhaps. Depends on how much you think you'll like the job and how much of a chance you could make more elsewhere.
When you tell the company what your salary is, then you have the opportunity to sit in front of a hiring manager. Unless you are just a much better fit than the other applicants (that happens) or you are in a field that has high demand or you really don't need a different job immediately, then you should put that information in there if requested. You want to be all alpha, then do it in the interview.
f THAT... If they are offering a job with a pay scale, they already have a scale in mind. They don't need your current amount to have already come up with the scale. I don't see how it has anything to do with it.
The point is that they were probably willing to pay 50,000, maybe 55,000, but when they know you're making 30,000 they lowball you. Your future raises are pegged to that initial salary, so that initial hit compounds the whole time you work there.
Oh and i am unemployed and live with my parents