What is your current slary qu-Problem

Any

It is never O.K. to blatantly lie, but there are moments where it is alowed not to be completely straight if you know what I mean... :-)

It is very unfair of the employer to ask that question as it is very uncomfortable question and if they invited you for an interview for the job they must have an idea how much they want to pay for it and where to place you on that scale...

Any

By "not being completely straight forward" for example in your case I would not hesitate to tell them what I earned in your job before this one.. if they ask. Rather then getting overly complicated explanations.. Depends on the type of people I would be facing I suppose..

getmore4less

Remember in some sectors "market rates" are lower that they were.

I know some IT technical project managers that are finding £10k+ drops from a few years back and a shortage of jobs and a few teckies struggled to match their previous salaries after redundancy(except for the very good ones).

CFC

musashi10 wrote: »

No each and everyone has asked how much I am on. Aside from the interviews, each and every recruitment agent has also asked the same question. It seems to be a standard question, at least in the field I am in. I also don't want to lie either, but I could extend the truth and add in my potential bonus (which I know I will not actually get at the end of the FY)

If you don't want to lie, I would very very charmingly just say, I prefer not to disclose my current salary, as kind of role is more important to me than purely salary

They are asking for their own purposes and yes, if you earn less than they anticipate, they will normally hold it against you on the grounds that you must be less competent than they anticipated.

Savvy_Sue

"What is your current salary?" "Not half as much as I am worth ..."

gettingready

MY last proper job was 43k per year followed by 6 months on JSA and then 2 months on equivalent to... 14k pa (!!!!) and now back on JSA again.

If anyone asks - I only refer to my 43k salary and try to forget about 2 months on 14k myself....

But it is tricky, true.

Still - I try not to apply for positions where no salary is stated in the advert. Not sure why employers do this? I really resent having to prepare for an interview. travel, try to make a good impression only to discover that what they offer in terms of salary is nowhere near to what I am looking for.

musashi10

Happenned again today.

agent phoned me up and said they had a job going for Virgin. said they thought I was ideal for the role and they are paying 45k (above the market rate), and then he asked me "that" question, and I had to sheepishly say 26k + 20% bonus and he went "rrrriiigggght......"

Still he wants to send my cv across, but the reaction to me said it all.

julie2710

Again, I'm not sure what sector you work in but certainly in the sector I work in no-one tells the truth about what their current salary is at interview. It is not because they don't want people to think they are under valued but entirely down to the fact that if/when you are offered a role, the salary you are offered will be based on what you said you are on plus a %, usually quite a low %.

Obviously if you tell them you are on some ridiculously high salary you could price yourself out of the role, but I would suggest some research into what the type of role you are applying for pays as an average. Then consider what you would feel is an acceptable salary for you. Then when you are asked the question that is what you tell them you are earning.

No one questions it, it is pretty much expected.

Good luck with the job hunting.

Any

musashi10 wrote: »

Happenned again today.

agent phoned me up and said they had a job going for Virgin. said they thought I was ideal for the role and they are paying 45k (above the market rate), and then he asked me "that" question, and I had to sheepishly say 26k + 20% bonus and he went "rrrriiigggght......"

Still he wants to send my cv across, but the reaction to me said it all.

If you act "sheepishly" you are telling him that such an amount would be punching above your weight!

This is just an agent as well, not the employer. He will get commission based on your promised wages, so it is in his interest to get as much for you as possible! And you are telling HIM what job to look for for you and on what money ideally, NOT the other way round!

You are looking too much into this and letting it get to you and make wrong impressions.

gettingready

They will know anyway what you were on as they will be getting your P45 and all very clear on P45...