Date: October 29, 2001
Regarding the issue of divulging previous salary information,
I have been fighting this battle for years. In most cases I don't get past the HR geek sitting at his/her little table
in the closet-space office they inhabit.
However, I have noticed lately that my interviews have been more with executives
than with managers or below. (These meetings are set up in advance.) I have usually been granted my salary request based on
our conversation(s).
I have become a pro at this. I have had 36 employers in 41 years and one of
those was for ten years. It was about fifteen years ago that I began refusing to give salary information. When they were
insistent, I tore the application in half and returned it to them to file in the most appropriate way. I would not
have wanted to work there anyway. HR and reception is where I get my first and lasting impression of a company -- you
get a gut feeling about them. Every time I have gone against that feeling, it backfired on me.
I agree with you whole-heartedly. Also, I believe the more candidates (not
applicants) walk away from salary-inquisitive companies, the more impact it will have in the industries. I've done it even
when I was unemployed. You have to be principled, or why should they want you? They have to be compassionately
intelligent or why would you want them?
Blessings,
Larry Mills
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