Re: Questions Re: Previous Salary

["Martin, Chuck" <chuckm -at- EVOLVESOFTWARE -dot- COM>]

On Thursday, November 20, 1997 10:41 AM, Kathy Fisher
[SMTP:KDFisher -at- AOL -dot- COM] wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I'm interested in what you think about recruiters and headhunters who
ask
> what your salary or hourly rate was on your last assignment.  Is it a
fair
> and appropriate question?  Should we tell them?  Is it any of their
business?
>  How do you handle such inquiries?  Rates can differ from state to
state,
> depending on the market.  My feeling is that previous salaries have no
> relevance to the current job being offered, especially if it's
out-of-state
> where the standard rates may be higher.
>
One of the reasons that this question is asked is that a recruiter won't
generally consider you a fit for a place that is planning on offering
less that you are currently getting. Their job is to fit the right
people to the right position, and you probably won't want to move on if
it isn't an improvement in your bottom line.

For example, let's say you're contracting at $50/hour. A recruiter gets
a position to fill and the company will pay $35-45/hour. By asking you
your current rate, the recruiter will know that you probably wouldn't
want to be a candidate for this contract.

Disclaimer: Of course, there are other factors than money. A recruiter
you work with regularly would know these. One who doesn't would be told
those factors by you when this question is raised.

--
"You don't look American."
"Everyone looks American, because Americans are from everywhere."

- Doonesbury
Chuck Martin, Technical Writer
Evolve Software                  | Personal
chuckm -at- evolvesoftware -dot- com        | writer -at- grin -dot- net
www.evolvesoftware.com           | www.grin.net/~writer


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