Choosing not to provide a salary history

As you read the classifieds, you might notice that many positions ask for your salary history, along with the usual resume and references. Hiring managers use salary history as a filter: if you’re asking for an amount they consider too high, your application can be immediately eliminated from the pile. They also cull numbers they consider too low under the assumption that you’ve been earning exactly what you are worth. Additionally, employers like to know what you’ve made in the past so that they get an idea of what you’ll be willing to accept in the future.

You, of course, want to make sure that you get the best salary you can. Telling a prospective employer your lower limit right off the bat weakens your position.

Do you actually have to provide your salary history?

You don’t have to tell them what you’ve made in the past. Even though they may ask for the information, most human resource managers won’t immediately discount your resume if you don’t provide it. The Careers Masters Institute, an association of professional career coaches and resume writers, surveyed hiring and human resource managers in 2001. They found that nine out of ten respondents would not eliminate applicants simply for not listing their salary history.

Let your prospective employer bring up the issue of salary first, if you can. While you don’t want to appear uncooperative, you will be negotiating from a stronger position if you can withhold the information.

You also need to know what the typical salary for your industry and geographical area, as well as what amount you’re shooting for. Not only will this knowledge make negotiation easier, you can use it to write a more effective answer to the salary history question. There are other factors that can help up your value to a company beyond your past salaries, such as the local demand for employees, available benefits and your planned career path.

If you do feel that you can’t land that ideal job without listing your salary history, you still have a few options. In your cover letter, you can list a range of acceptable salary, rather than pinning down a specific number. You can also note reasons that your salary history might not be applicable, such as if you have recently completed further education not reflected in your past pay. Your cover letter is your opportunity to explain why your salary history is the way it is – you can emphasis the points where you received raises, or note that you received benefits that raise the actual worth of your salary.

Whether or not you choose to include a salary history, it is important to remember to never misrepresent your credentials. It is very easy for an interviewer to call up your previous employer and ask if you were, in fact, making a million dollars a year when you left. While many companies have policies against giving out certain types of information about past employees, there are still many ways to express that a certain piece of information is incorrect.