| Firstly, if you're desperate for a job, ignore the advice below. If you're not desperate, and can afford to walk away and move on to the next interview, following the advice below will ensure you're not taken advantage of during the interview and recruiting process. Two golden, inviolable, rules: 1. Never lie. 2. Never be the first to name a number. For the "What is you current salary?" question, you can answer with any of the below responses. They get increasing stern, so gauge which one to use based upon your impression of how aggressive the employer is. - "My current employer does not allow me to discuss the terms of my employment" - "This position is not exactly the same as my current job, so let’s discuss what my responsibilities would be here and then determine a fair salary for this job." - "I’m happy to help you evaluate what I’d be worth to your business based upon my skills, experience and the value that I can add to your organisation, but my current salary is personal and confidential, just as the salaries of your own employees are." For the "What salary are you seeking?" question, use the Noel Smith-Wenkle method (http://infohost.nmt.edu/~shipman/org/noel.html). In a nutshell, you move through the following answers for each time they repeat the question or try to pin you down to a specific figure. 1st answer: "I am much more interested in doing (type of work) here at (name of company) than I am in the size of the initial offer." 2nd answer: "I will consider any reasonable offer." 3rd (and subsequent) answers: "You are in a much better position to know how much I'm worth to you than I am." |