Why is it bad-practices to ask for the current salary? You also don't want to pay for something more than you have to. Recruiters and CEOs know that an employee gets a higher salary when he or she changes companies. But why should I spend more money on an employee than I have to? If I know how much the potential employee earns now, it can be a win-win situation and everybody is happy: The new employee gets more money than he got before and I as a recruiter/CEO don't have to pay too much.
IT employees, whether they are developers, project managers or administrators, already receive a very high salary and I am beginning to wonder if it can be so healthy for the future of IT when we are so overpaid for skills that can be learned in a year or two.
One of the most salient features of our Tech Hiring culture is that there is so much bullshit. Everyone knows this. Each of us contributes his share. But we tend to take the situation for granted.
Well yes as the recruiter/CEO you are free to try to underpay me, but then I'm free to think that you don't have my best interests in mind and move on to a better company.
If I know how much the potential employee earns now, it can be a win-win situation and everybody is happy: The new employee gets more money than he got before and I as a recruiter/CEO don't have to pay too much.
It's a win-win situation only for the recruiter/CEO who wins on two fronts:
on one hand he feels generous because he gave more than the employee
on the other hand he probably gave the absolute bottom of the range that was agreed on for that position.
It's funny that we are only underpaid and never overpaid. Sure I could get more money but I must also know for myself with how much money I am satisfied at first. As long as I get the money I am happy with myself, I cannot lose. Of course, when I learn that other colleagues with the same job as I do earn significantly more, then I immediately think I'm underpaid. But we should perhaps ask the question whether the others are not overpaid and are also not paid fairly. The only way to eliminate this problem is to introduce uniform payrolls for all employees, so that all transparently are paid according to pay grades.
One of the most salient features of our Tech Hiring culture is that there is so much bullshit. Everyone knows this. Each of us contributes his share. But we tend to take the situation for granted.
I know your topic differs, but you cannot divide the whole topic into small parts without looking at the big picture.
But to be clear: I totally agree with you to not tell them the current salary! But to tell them the amount of money you want + a buffer to be traded down to your desired salary <3
One of the most salient features of our Tech Hiring culture is that there is so much bullshit. Everyone knows this. Each of us contributes his share. But we tend to take the situation for granted.
I appreciate your opinion, but I respectfully disagree. As someone who has worked in the IT industry, I have seen many individuals with little to no experience get hired and paid high salaries simply because they were able to negotiate well or because the demand for their skills was high. In my view, it's important for both employers and employees to have transparency about salaries in order to create a fair and balanced working environment. Thank you for considering my perspective.
One of the most salient features of our Tech Hiring culture is that there is so much bullshit. Everyone knows this. Each of us contributes his share. But we tend to take the situation for granted.
Why is it bad-practices to ask for the current salary? You also don't want to pay for something more than you have to. Recruiters and CEOs know that an employee gets a higher salary when he or she changes companies. But why should I spend more money on an employee than I have to? If I know how much the potential employee earns now, it can be a win-win situation and everybody is happy: The new employee gets more money than he got before and I as a recruiter/CEO don't have to pay too much.
IT employees, whether they are developers, project managers or administrators, already receive a very high salary and I am beginning to wonder if it can be so healthy for the future of IT when we are so overpaid for skills that can be learned in a year or two.
Well yes as the recruiter/CEO you are free to try to underpay me, but then I'm free to think that you don't have my best interests in mind and move on to a better company.
It's a win-win situation only for the recruiter/CEO who wins on two fronts:
For the employee, it's a loose-loose situation:
It's funny that we are only underpaid and never overpaid. Sure I could get more money but I must also know for myself with how much money I am satisfied at first. As long as I get the money I am happy with myself, I cannot lose. Of course, when I learn that other colleagues with the same job as I do earn significantly more, then I immediately think I'm underpaid. But we should perhaps ask the question whether the others are not overpaid and are also not paid fairly. The only way to eliminate this problem is to introduce uniform payrolls for all employees, so that all transparently are paid according to pay grades.
Sure, some people are overpaid, it's just that the topic of my blog is how to not be underpaid, because it's a more pressing topic IMHO.
I agree with your last sentence in salary transparency
I know your topic differs, but you cannot divide the whole topic into small parts without looking at the big picture.
But to be clear: I totally agree with you to not tell them the current salary! But to tell them the amount of money you want + a buffer to be traded down to your desired salary <3
"skills that can be learned in a year or two" - can you tell me what skills these are, I'd like to switch careers.
I'm afraid his assertion is mostly bullshit
I appreciate your opinion, but I respectfully disagree. As someone who has worked in the IT industry, I have seen many individuals with little to no experience get hired and paid high salaries simply because they were able to negotiate well or because the demand for their skills was high. In my view, it's important for both employers and employees to have transparency about salaries in order to create a fair and balanced working environment. Thank you for considering my perspective.
I mean in theory it's symmetrical, and we can probably agree that it's unfair that both Elon Musk is so rich, and that Mozart died so poor.
It just seems to me that the real tragedy is Mozart dying dirt poor.