The issue of whether of not to disclose your salary to a recruiter is one of those topics that is often up for debate. You’ve probably been told to defer talking about salary in an interview with a hiring company as long as possible and this certainly makes sense.
A few months back I spoke about my experience when I attended an interview that was arranged by a recruiter without knowing the salary of the job going into the interview and what a waste of time that was.
In other words, a lack of information cost me and contributed to me wasting time and effort applying for a job I never should have.
The point of letting your recruiter know what sort of money you’re currently making and what you’re looking for is to avoid applying for jobs that don’t meet your requirements or conversely are way outside your abilities.
I can only think of perhaps a handful of times I’ve asked someone what sort of money they are making and not received an answer back. Most times people understand why I’m asking the question and give me the answer. In the few occasions where the answer isn’t given, a red light immediately goes on in my head and I wonder why the person won’t tell me what they’re earning?
Typically, the person says I should run jobs past them and they’ll let me know if it suits them or not based on what the job pays. There’s no way I’m playing that game. I’m not guessing what jobs to put past someone based on what I think they’re earning. I’m not wasting my time doing that.
Again though, this happens very rarely. Remember, when you’re dealing with a recruiter you’re not working against them. You’re supposed to be working together and telling them what you earn isn’t going to prejudice you in the eyes of the recruiter since the recruiter isn’t the one going to hire you.
In fact that opposite is true. It should help you avoid applying for jobs that don’t suit you (ie. it doesn’t pay enough, is beyond your level of experience).
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