It sounds harsh, but it’s a cold world out there in the business world. One of my mentors made a general comment to me about working for a company you don’t own: “If you’re not getting over on them then they’re getting over on you.” He gave this advice to ease my guilt for lying about a sick day to interview at another company, but why stop there with lying as a career advancement strategy?
Here are the 12 Most Honest Reasons to Lie When Interviewers Ask Your Current Salary:
1. You’re underpaid
You can find yourself in this situation for many reasons, mostly when you’ve only worked for one company in your career. If you move up the ranks quickly at fixed promotion raises (e.g. 4% each promotion) but started out as cheap labor fresh out of college, your pay-to-delivered-value ratio tips heavily in favor of your company. This dynamic frequently results in people only being able to get the salary increase they want by changing companies.Companies often like to use your previous job as a basis for their offer. Following that logic, if you think your salary is 20k below fair value and they offer you a 10k increase, you might be less miserable but you’re still miserable nonetheless. So give the interviewer a number you’re comfortable with as a starting point for negotiation and both sides can win. You’ll just win a little bit more.
2. You want to maximize your income
What if you’re not underpaid but want to make more than you do now? You might find an opportunity where a company needs you more than your current employer and you can get more money doing the same or similar amount of work. Who wouldn’t want that?! If you ask any HR person the salary range for a job, you’re going to get an enormous spread. Someone has to set the high bar, so it might as well be you.3. Your target job commands more money than your current one
When the nature or responsibilities of the new job vary drastically from your current position, you may want to give a current salary number based on some strategic research on what your new job is worth to other companies. Using a tool like Glassdoor is great for getting an idea of where the sweet spot is for compensation for a job. You need to think about your salary negotiation this way: a 15% salary increase for 50% greater job responsibility and related stress isn’t a good deal for you.4. You want to spend less time negotiating
The higher the number you give as your current salary, the smaller the gap is between what you make now and the number you want to hit with the new job. Less negotiating range means less time spent trying to squeeze as much money as you can out of the offer.5. You’re losing vacation time with the new job
While some exceptions exist, you shouldn’t ever plan to come out of pocket when you change jobs. That includes money lost as part of moving over to a company that offers less vacation time than your current company. So what can you do to avoid this situation? You lie so your higher salary compensates for the time off you’ll no longer have. You might end up working more than you did before but at least you have a few extra bucks for your trouble. Who ever gets to take all their vacation anyway?6. You have to leave a bonus on the table at your current company
NOBODY wants to feel like they didn’t get the reward they deserved for a job well done. If you think there’s even a chance the new company won’t pay a sign-on to cover your old bonus or let you push your start date so you can quit after the bonus cut-off date, you might want to consider tacking that amount onto the current salary number as a precautionary measure.7. The new job requires you to pay for your own relocation
It doesn’t take much to find out when a company has a tendency to offer company-sponsored relocation packages. The question you need to ask yourself is why should you have to take a hit to your bank account because you, the best fit for the job, don’t live in the same zip code as the company? Spoiler alert: you shouldn’t.8. You have great relationships at your current job
This gets tricky because relationships make the business world turn and directly impact your ability to scale the corporate ladder. There’s only one problem — you can’t take relationships to the bank to pay your mortgage, which might be the reason you started considering other companies in the first place.Leaving the known relationships at your old company for a bunch of unknown ones is a risk you should make sure factors into the compensation package you reserve. You have to build up your network again which will at least temporarily slow your career ascent, so that little cushion to your salary you add up front will help bridge the gap until you get your bearings.
9. You’re not good at negotiating
Or maybe you just don’t want to waste your time negotiating. Either way, you know you won’t take the job for anything less than a certain number and this is the number you give the interviewer. It makes assessing an offer simple. They’ll either consider it or they won’t, and you can move on to the next pursuit.10. Your new job requires you to work more hours
Sometimes you’ll run into a situation where the job is similar but the new company has less efficient business processes so it will take you 15% more time to do the job in the new environment. Do they think you’re going to volunteer to work more than before for free? Maybe, but they shouldn’t.11. Your new job requires travel
Some companies will try to sell you on the breadth of experience you get when you travel the world. But you and I know, like relationships, experience doesn’t pay the bills. Besides, you’ll need some extra funding to pay for the family gifts you’ll need to buy to try to make up for all the things you missed while away on business trips.12. Your new job won’t confirm the salary number you provide them
It’s none of the new company’s business what your old firm paid you and background checks don’t generally include verifying salary with your previous employer. Do with that information what you will. That being said, most recruiters have some sense of a reasonable number for the position on your resume (which you should NEVER, EVER lie on), so don’t get too crazy.Bottom line: A good or service is worth whatever the market pays for it, so get your money while you can.
How have you answered the question “what’s your current salary?” in the past? Let me know in the comments.
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