Truth In Salary Negotiations
Interesting piece in the Sunday New York Times on Truth in Salary Negotiations.
We, as recruiters, are responsible for securing the salary history of our candidates, and then presenting candidates to our clients with their requirement for a specific role. Our request for this information is generally received without surprise by candidates. We ask, “What are you currently making?” and we receive an answer. Whether that answer is truthful is another story. (Although one thing about having worked in this business as long as we have is that we often know other people working at the candidate’s organization, and we have the knowledge to piece together the salary structure.)
As the article points out, the “conventional wisdom” is to defer talking about money until the interview process has gone far enough to let you make the case for what you have to offer. However, as a recruiter, it is my responsibility to avoid wasting my clients time by taking a candidate that is beyond the budget for the role all the way through the interview process…no matter how much they have to offer.
I understand the frustration on the part of candidates, and have even discussed with close friends and family, that just because they happen to be making $80k, they want to be considered for jobs paying $125k. (Yet in candor, they would be thrilled even if the job offered a salary of $95k). They are frustrated by having to limit their own earning potential by putting their cards on the table.
It’s a tricky issue. No new employer wants to be the one that started a new employee at a salary $30k more than they “would have taken”. And no new employee wants to be paid $95k for a job that had $125k budgeted for the salary.
Make no mistake; as a recruiter, I am compensated as a percentage of the new hire’s salary. So one would think that I would be motivated to make that salary as high as possible. Yes….and no.
I would rather see a hire made than not. Not because I am a “greedy recruiter”. But because my clients come to me with a need to fill an open position, and my candidates come to me to advance their careers. If that is accomplished by placing a candidate in a new job at a salary they are happy to receive, does it matter if the client would have potentially paid more? Maybe once that particular candidate pushed for more money, the client would ask to see what other candidate options were available at the higher salary (and this has happened).
My clients have a right to understand up front what each candidate would cost to hire. And my candidates should understand – and even welcome – that. Before the candidate has to take numerous days off for interviewing, and ride the emotional roller coaster of interviewing, they should establish what a successful end result would look like.
What I tell my candidates is, “Please provide me with a salary requirement that you would accept without hesitation (if it gets to the point of an offer), yet not a number so outrageous that you will regret it if the client chooses not to even consider you.”
Lastly, though rare, I do have clients request a W2 from a candidate before extending an offer. So honesty is truly the best policy when it comes to salary information.
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