Rant: Getting tad annoyed with recruiters asking for current salary. Please help.

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

Comms69 wrote: »

A good idea is to ask how salary progression works.


With public sector it's usually a standard, but worth exploring in private.


As SR said, you may not be worth the full salary at the time, but a structured progression plan over 3-5 years is beneficial to everyone

There's no such thing as structured salary progression in any private companies I have worked for. You get a salary increase (beyond company wide inflationary rises) if you ask for it, if they think they will leave if you don't get it, and if they think it's worth paying it to keep you.

If you are good enough you can get a rise whenever you want, up to the point at which they can get better people cheaper.

PasturesNew

It'd be tempting to reply "How much do you earn? Whatever your answer is, treble that and write the number down - I'd be very disappointed in myself and life in general if I were earning less than the number you wrote down because that'd just be a failure in life wouldn't it".



But you can't.... be rude ..... no matter what ...... but you CAN think it

How much I earn, or earnt in my last job, hasn't been relevant to when I am looking for job. What have you got, doing what, where - these will decide if I choose to apply for a job. I might accept half the salary for a nice job round the corner ... -v- ... a horrid job 150 miles away.

trailingspouse

Do you want their help in finding a job or not?

Asking how much you currently earn is a quick way of seeing if the job they have on offer is beneath your dignity or way out of your league. Which saves time for both you, them, and the employer.

Andy_L

LiveOnce wrote: »

Do you legally have to disclose your current salary to a recruiter or a HR department of a company when they ask you?

No, but they are quite entitled to tell you to poke off if you don't answer.

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

PasturesNew wrote: »

It'd be tempting to reply "How much do you earn? Whatever your answer is, treble that and write the number down - I'd be very disappointed in myself and life in general if I were earning less than the number you wrote down because that'd just be a failure in life wouldn't it".



But you can't.... be rude ..... no matter what ...... but you CAN think it

How much I earn, or earnt in my last job, hasn't been relevant to when I am looking for job. What have you got, doing what, where - these will decide if I choose to apply for a job. I might accept half the salary for a nice job round the corner ... -v- ... a horrid job 150 miles away.

It's useful information for them; they are not doing it to try and belittle you.

Can you not see that they don't want to look like idiots to the companies who pay their fees? If all they have to go on is you saying "£40K? Yes, I'd accept that" when you are actually on £20K, and when you turn up it's patently obvious to anyone that you are only worth £20K, they will lose that company's business for wasting their time with unsuitable candidates. If you had told them "I'd be looking for £25K to move" they'd know not to bother putting you forward. Because, as I say, qualifications and years of experience mean nothing, while your current salary is a measure of how good you actually are. In fact if you have good qualifications and long experience and are paid well below industry norms, that's a massive red flag.

Professional jobs are not measured on absolute success or failure. It's not production line work; where somebody either can do the job or can't. The same job can be done in a manner that merits a much higher or a much lower salary, and the position that's being offered could often be filled either by someone not much good who wants £20K or someone really good who wants £60K. Without knowing what you want, and knowing whether you are being realistic, they will waste a hell of a lot of time.

Comms69

ScorpiondeRooftrouser wrote: »

There's no such thing as structured salary progression in any private companies I have worked for. You get a salary increase (beyond company wide inflationary rises) if you ask for it, if they think they will leave if you don't get it, and if they think it's worth paying it to keep you.

If you are good enough you can get a rise whenever you want, up to the point at which they can get better people cheaper.

I've certainly seen a few - especially where the employer is investing I training.

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

Comms69 wrote: »

I've certainly seen a few - especially where the employer is investing I training.

There's plenty of people who don't get any more valuable by being sent for training, and plenty who train themselves and don't need the company to invest in it.

Gavin83

ScorpiondeRooftrouser wrote: »

Because, as I say, qualifications and years of experience mean nothing, while your current salary is a measure of how good you actually are.

Of course, experience means nothing. Current salary (which is basically meaningless) means everything. Sure.

I’d actually say current salary is one of the poorest measures of how good an employee might potentially be. I know very few people who I’d say are earning the right salary, most people are either underpaid or overpaid, some grossly so.

You can generally tell how good people are with a good interview but even this isn’t exact. It’s often difficult to tell if someone will be a good employee, often you just have to take a risk.

Personally I’d never reveal my current salary, it just isn’t important. Besides, at the very least it’ll need to be overall package, a company with great benefits needs to be considered as well.

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

Gavin83 wrote: »

Of course, experience means nothing. Current salary (which is basically meaningless) means everything. Sure.

I’d actually say current salary is one of the poorest measures of how good an employee might potentially be. I know very few people who I’d say are earning the right salary, most people are either underpaid or overpaid, some grossly so.

You can generally tell how good people are with a good interview but even this isn’t exact. It’s often difficult to tell if someone will be a good employee, often you just have to take a risk.

Personally I’d never reveal my current salary, it just isn’t important. Besides, at the very least it’ll need to be overall package, a company with great benefits needs to be considered as well.

Experience is useful. But experience doesn't turn someone lazy and not very bright into a hardworking genius.

People who produce are valued, and tend to get paid more to keep them there.

People who do not produce stay on the same salary.

Both gather the same experience.

Maybe I have only worked for good companies. I'm sure in terrible companies they pay the worst employees more. I haven't seen it though.

Gavin83

ScorpiondeRooftrouser wrote: »

Maybe I have only worked for good companies. I'm sure in terrible companies they pay the worst employees more. I haven't seen it though.

Not more but I have seen companies where the staff are paid the same. Some deserve this, some don't. Some people just aren't very good at asking for more money but they're good at their jobs.