What’s your current compensation?
Ah, the inevitable, dreaded question. It’s never been comfortable addressing compensation in recruiting discussions. Should you be honest? Pad the answer a bit? How do you know if your answer falls within the range for the position? What if you’re selling yourself short by low-balling, or what if your answer is outside the compensation range for the position and you get ruled out as too expensive?
On July 28, 2019, Washington became one of 17 states so far to ban companies from asking potential employees about their salary history. On the bright side, the state’s legislation means you shouldn’t get that dreaded question anymore. Banning the discussion of salary history is a move toward closing the gender and race equity gap and is a step in the right direction. But it does leave the compensation discussion even more ambiguous.
As an executive recruiter for the past 20 years, I must admit that this is a big adjustment. We recruiters are accustomed to relying on salary history as a data point for future negotiations. It’s a change I’m happy to make if it means creating equity for all. But now how do we talk about salary?
The good news is you don’t have to share what you’ve been making; the bad news is we have a new question that can be just as tricky to answer:
What are your compensation expectations?
Aren’t we sly? This perfectly legal question puts you back to square one. However, with proper planning and quick thinking, you can sail past this question with ease. Here are five ways to address compensation that’ll put you in the best possible light.
1. Be prepared. Before you even send out a resume, do some research. There are multiple compensation calculators available online, and you should consult these as a starting point. I’ve found these calculators to be misleading in a hot job market because they can’t aggregate data fast enough to keep up, so take them with a grain of salt.
2. Search for similar titles in your region. Check out job board aggregators like Indeed and see which ones post salary ranges. However, asking folks in your network in similar positions what you can expect to make is often the best source of information.
3. Turn the question around and ask the recruiter what the job pays. Most people will give you a straight answer, but there are some exceptions. Even so, the recruiter should still be able to give you some inkling of what salary they have in mind.
4. Go ahead and share what you’re currently making. We can’t ask, but you can volunteer. If you’re comfortable with where you are, feel free to be candid. Especially if you’re willing to walk away if the job can’t meet your requirements.
5. Provide your ideal target compensation range or bottom line. But if you can be flexible and don’t want to rule yourself out, be sure to say so. Recruiters love to hear, “I’m targeting X, but I can be flexible for the right role and culture fit.” Keep in mind if you provide a range, the only number the recruiter will hear is the lower one.
A lot of these tactics aren’t new; we just have a different approach. The biggest takeaway should be this: If you’re not comfortable sharing what you’re making, it’s not required. And if I or one of my colleagues has a lapse in memory and asks anyway, feel free to gently remind us.