It is a typical question in any job interview. However, it generates many doubts and some candidates have asked us what the best answer would be. We usually find three typical reactions when this question is posed:
- The candidate is transparent with her current salary conditions: The candidate has no reluctance to share her salary and is open and transparent with information. This situation is preferred both by us, the Headhunters, and by the customers. Sharing this information gives us a guideline of the position of that candidate in the market and also in terms of what the client company is willing to pay.
- The candidate does not want to give information about his current salary conditions: Fearing that their current salary is above or below what is offered by the client, many candidates prefer to ignore this question and wait to receive a concrete offer. The risk faced with this option is to be excluded from the selection process, since companies prefer to have complete information about possible candidacies and priority is given to candidates who have given that information.
- The candidate prefers to specify an interval to avoid giving the specific information: This point is related to the previous one, since there are some candidates who prefer to listen to the offer of their potential employer, rather than share their current information.
Our recommendation is that, if you are interested in the job, be as transparent as possible.
Of course, many candidates tell me that they would prefer companies to also be transparent and share that information. Although it is an understandable request, at the moment the market is not prepared for that and the rules of the game are what they are.
That is why we always recommend that salary information be given as transparently as possible in job interviews since doing so will always be considered positively.
And you, are you willing to share your salary information in a job interview?
