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My Salary History Is None of Your Business
Why Not Revealing Your Earning Power Nets You More Earning Power
In my first interview out of grad school, I was required to reveal my “prior salary.” I had been working in a parallel job field, but I was new to the workforce. I reluctantly told my potential new employer what I was making, but I felt the question was unfair, since my job history was sparse.
Turns out, I was right to view the question as unfair, and it was unfair of them to ask it.
New research from SSRN (the Social Science Research Network) shows that women and minorities especially gain no benefit from the salary question, so companies who claim they are committed to closing the wage gap, ensuring that they are not participating in discriminatory hiring practices, and who want to even the playing field, can simply stop asking the question.
This research shows that the real purpose behind salary history (as if we didn’t know already) is to give employers a better position in bargaining. New employees hardly expect a multi-thousand dollar bump in salary, after all.
But why not?
If I am transitioning from one job to another, one company to another, it stands to reason that I believe I’m ready for a boost — in salary, in expectations and responsibility, and maybe in title. So how…
