[Peroni]

I can see where you are coming from but ultimately I disagree. The strong counter-argument in the comments here has prompted me to write a follow-up post clarifying my position in detail so hopefully that will help eradicate the notion that I would weaken a candidates negotiating position for my own benefit regardless of whether I do it consciously or otherwise.

[tptacek]

But you're just one out of tens of thousands of recruiters. You have to believe something pretty radical to think that recruiters on the whole are immune to incentives.

We can safely assume that you're conscientious and that you go out of your way to defend the interests of candidates. Then we can move on to telling developers how to deal with normal recruiters.

This particular debate, just remember, is about whether you should disclose your current salary to a recruiter or prospective employee. The answer is: you simply should not do that, full stop. If you disagree, it would be helpful if you disagreed directly and provided evidence for your view; that would be more constructive than centering the discussion on your own professionalism and ethics, which nobody wants to call into question.

[Peroni]

I had originally included a lengthy argument against disclosing your salary to recruiters specifically. That element was removed due to the fact that the post was aimed at graduates who most likely won't have to deal with recruiters for a number of years. In my follow-up post I am dealing with both topics specifically. Not negotiation but purely the facts as to why I think it's best to withhold your salary from a recruiter and disclose it to an employer.

Fortunately I am not just one out of tens of thousands of recruiters. I've been in this game for three years, prior to which I was on the other side of the fence managing a team of 8 people, regularly interviewing potential employees and entering negotiation battles as an employer with a strict budget.