EastWest

I have noted in many online job application in the ME a question about "your current salary". It is even compulsory to answer this question in some cases.

Outside the ME, I have only once been asked about this when was interviewed by a US company in AUS a few years back. While I find this question rude and irrelevant, I wonder if any of you been asked such a question in a job application/interview and what you answer?

For me, I have never answered this question.

Robajob

Have you received any responses from your applications?

OriginalSunshine

It's not rude nor irrelevant. They are trying to judge if it is worth making you an offer. There is nothing more frustrating than flying someone over for interview, putting them up in a hotel, interviewing, negotiating, and then for them to turn around and say "sorry, that's less than I am earning now".

The best way to answer is to put down your salary expectations: e.g. I expect this much per month net salary, I want you to pay for medical/schooling/housing/car/flights/utilities/etc

Bahtatboy

That's missing the point. What you're willing to accept for a new position may be very different from what you're earning now. Some (many?) recruiters fail to understand (or probably just don't care about) the fact that the circumstances that prevailed when you accepted your current job are possibly very different from those now, and what your current employer is willing to pay you has no bearing whatsoever on your value to your prospective employer.

I refuse to say, on the basis that that information is confidential to my current employer, and to disclose it is a breach of confidence. I may give an indication of an overall package, but I certainly would never reveal details. Not only is it ethically wrong to my current employer, it would also weaken my negotiating position. When interviewing candidates, I'm always wary of those who will willingly and casually reveal all: if they're willing to do that to their current employer, they'll be willing to do it to me as their future employer.

OriginalSunshine

Please re-read the bit in italics where I said to put down your expectations. I'm not saying tell what your salary is now, I'm saying, tell them what you expect to receive. There's a difference between the two.

Bahtatboy

So its not rude and is relevant?

EastWest

I totally disagree. They can judge by my CV, experience, references and not by my current salary, which might vary from one country to another given the same qualification and experience.
There is a big difference between asking about my expectation of the salary and asking about my current salary, which as I said, is completely irrelevant, especially when applying from a different country.
I see this question a sign of lack of experience/skills from the prospective employer.

EastWest

I agree with what you said. I can't see the point behind asking about the salary. The employee may not reveal the correct information, for example, and over-prices him/herself. Will this make him/her better in the eyes of the prospective employer??

EastWest

I do not see it the best way to put down your expectation!. If you put it down then they will never offer you a higher salary.

The Dean

I agree that it's an outrageous question, and Battyboy is right to say it's probably a breach of contract with your current employer to reveal it (when I left Barclays I had to sign a document forbidding me from revealing remuneration details for TWO years).

Out here though it becomes irrelevant when the offer is confirmed - the previous employer is usually asked to send a salary 'certificate' to the new firm, and in my experience usually does so.

OriginalSunshine

oh for heaven's sake. clearly English is not your first language, and I would expect you to be offered salaries based on your passport rather than your experience. with regards to stating your expectations - this is the art of negotiation. you put a salary and package that you would be happy with, based on your research of what the industry pays.

it's a very common question in engineering industries, particularly with O&G companies. as I said, it's a right pain in the a*** to go through the hassle of recruitment if you cannot match the expectations of the potential employee - and yes, in certain sectors of the O&G industry some skills are as rare as hen's teeth, but HR departments with their fixed salary grades and ethnicity grades have not worked out why we cannot recruit.

I accept that remuneration may be sensitive in the finance sector, but not in engineering & O&G. all the big companies share the salary ranges and packages. I have also never seen in any contract for these non-finance industries a clause that states that salary is confidential.

OriginalSunshine

You know what? I'm actually not going to bother replying any further. Good luck with your high horse.

commander

You just did...

EastWest

Great, good boy.

This is bullshit. I never heard that it is a condition to be a native-English speaker to get a job! I have worked in 3 different EU countries + Australia before getting the f***en western passport. So your theory is not valid. I am thankful that you are not contributing anymore in this thread.

scrubbedexpat141

It's a simple question employers ask for a number of reasons, whether they are ethical / correct / justified is another matter.

Whether you choose to answer truthfully, openly or in smoke/mirrors is up to you.

Different companies will have different expecations in terms of, what you get now, how it's broken down to the Dirham, or what you expect or just roughly what you want.

I don't see it as anything to get too hung up over. If you can do the job, you can do the job, people sometimes like to just have a marker of where you sit at the moment so not to waste time if you are way over their C2C budget.

Chill out. Shit will still flow round the u-bend.