Check out this great post on salary disclosure from Nick Corocodilis on Ask the Headhunter as well as the 100+ comments around this subject on Laurie Ruettimann’s Punk Rock HR blog. I agree with Nick and Laurie…A candidate’s past salary is not a relevant benchmark for deciding compensation in a future position. The way I see it, hiring managers hold all the cards…they intimately know the job description, salary range, salary of the person who last held the position, and the salaries of their colleagues. If employers expect transparency from candidates, why shouldn’t candidates expect transparency from employers? Hiring managers often claim that they want to know what the candidate made in a previous position so they don’t waste their time pitching a job that is not aligned with the candidate’s salary expectations. If that’s really the case, doesn’t it make sense for the hiring manager to disclose the salary range for the open position first to avoid the candidate’s dance around the salary question?
