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Salary History Question

Advisor

Deontrez Albury Glen Allen , VA

Greetings all,

First, thank you to all who contribute to this forum and answer questions for transitioning veterans like myself. I truly appreciate the responses to various questions and have learned from them.

I just recently moved to the Richmond, VA area and have been fully engaged in the career search process for about 30 days now. It's been quite an eye opening experience to say the least.

The question I have today is why do some employers ask for previous salary history and how is it relevant to the hiring process?

Thank you for your time.

Best,

Deon

24 July 2015 4 replies Career Exploration

Answers

Advisor

Joe Paschall Madison , AL

Deon, the salary question is extremely relevant because we use it to avoid wasting time (yours & ours). If we know that the open position is capped at $85k and we see that you last made $100k, we can assume that you would either not be interested in this position, or would take it and then leave as soon as you found something better (within months). Ideally we want to hire someone who previously made $75k because that is the sweet spot for getting a happy employee we can retain.

We also realize that many senior military folks have been making more in the military than their skill set is worth on the outside - and that with retirement pensions many do not need to make the same amount anyway to maintain their lifestyle. We take that into account when seeing the current salary of someone who is in uniform. However, when someone chooses to not report current salary, I personally always choose not to call them in for interview.

24 July 2015 Helpful answer

Advisor

Amy Efstratios Groveland , MA

Deon - Joe has provided you with a great and accurate response. Good Luck and thank you for your service. ~Amy

Advisor

Vanessa Barris Brooklyn , NY

Hi Deon,

Thank you for your service. I will second what Joe said. It is used to make sure no one's time is being wasted if our salary range cannot meet your expectations.

Best of luck to you!
Vanessa

Advisor

Deontrez Albury Glen Allen , VA

Greetings Joe,

Thank you very much for the reply. I truly appreciate the insight.

Best,

Deon

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