[ale] recruiter salary questions

[Benjamin Scherrey]

I don't think lying is ever justified. Of course - you also don't have to answer the question. My usual 
response is "I'm looking to make $x" - ie - answer another question. If they're insistent than I will tell 
them that I make "between $x & $y inclusive of bonuses and stock options, etc". If they are more 
insistent then tell them this isn't information you typically just hand out and ask what their 
purpose/use of this information will be. If they give you a good reason then give them an answer 
that meets that goal - otherwise tell them that you feel you've provided them with information that 
should be satisfactory for their purposes already.

Now - as someone who has hired many people before - I will give you one good reason to ask for 
this information: I need to know what my potential employee is able to live on comfortably. It raises a  
red flag to me when someone is looking to take a significant pay cut unless they can give me some 
compelling reason and convince me that it isn't going to be a significant hardship on them. If I am 
not satisfied then I will not hire that person - even if they're the most highly qualified. It may sound 
harsh but my experience is that people will be less committed to their job and will instantly be 
looking to jump ship as soon as someone offers them more money.

The fact is that when a company has made a decision to hire, they have budgeted an amount to 
pay. A manager isn't looking to cut down 10 - 30% of that figure - they're looking for the best person 
they can get and don't mind spending the money. What you have to watch out for are the HR idiots 
and head hunters who make their money by taking their cut off the top. They will try to talk you 
down and argue price with you. I've never had a hiring manager argue price with me nor have I 
ever done this with a potential employee. Its always been we both state our expectations and 
quickly agree on a point where we can meet.

	Good luck,

		Ben Scherrey

12/2/2002 3:26:33 PM, Bigg Head <b1gh34d at yahoo.com> wrote:
>anyone know the legality of inflating your salary when
>questioned by a recruiter?



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