Last week, I wrote a post called The Pros and Cons of Using Recruiters that ended up being quite controversial in the comments section. One of the biggest points of controversy was the piece of advice I gave to talent who are using recruiters: I told them not to reveal their salary history, but instead focus on their market value. While many recruiters posted high praise for what I had written (including some who messaged me or sent connection requests) some of the recruiters voiced strong opposition to the idea (an idea, by the way, which isn't at all new). I want to be fair about giving these people a voice, so here are some of their comments:

As a recruiter with over 30 years of experience this is the worst advice I have heard in a long time. -Ralph Dahm, President IT Audit Search

Worst advice I've ever read/heard. If a candidate isn't willing to partner with you on all levels of the search, including disclosing salary and expectations, then I have no interest in working with said candidate. -Meghan Delyani, Recruiting for Top Engineering and Professional Talent in the Northeast

Tell the recruiter what you're making right up front, and make sure the opportunity they are submitting you for can pay what you are looking for, thus above your current salary. -Keith Hines, Opportunity Connector, IT Recruiter, Career Counselor, Constant Learner

Was my advice so horrible? Worst advice you've ever read? Maybe I can top it with this article.

#1- Who you were is not who you are

The first, most important reason to keep your salary history to yourself is that you truly don't know how much your value has increased since you were last on the market. By giving away your salary history, you run the risk of letting your true market value outpace the amount recruiters are willing to pitch you at. It works in your favor to put your thumb to the wind as soon as you are unemployed and figure out what your value is.

Salary.com is a great first start you can take. It's not always entirely on the money- but it's usually close.



Get in touch with 3-5 recruiters in your area that specialize in what you do and ask them to look over your history and give you a realistic range that they see candidates working for at your seniority and skillset.



Ask other professionals in your field who have similar experience levels if they'd be willing to share a salary range you might expect.



Spend some time on job boards and look for the type of jobs you're looking for at the skillset you have and take note of the ones that reveal salary information.

Combine these things together- online salary data, recruiter observations, advice from experienced peers, and job boards- you will have a pretty good idea of what you are currently worth.

Who you were is not who you are.

#2- The first one to talk a dollar amount loses

It's trite, but I've tested it and it's true. The longer you keep your numbers to yourself, the more likely the numbers will be revealed to you and you can work with what's in front of you or not. Now- that being said- I do recommend you figure out your market rate (see #1 above), and if you are really confident in your market rate, then you CAN mention that first and feel confident about it. Nevertheless, it's always possible that the role you're being pitched for has a higher budget than you were asking for.

Recruiters will comment in public that 'this is very bad advice in my number of years' etc. but you have to remember- they are the recruiters. They're not the job seekers. They will always give advice that works out best for them. But who is looking out for you? You have to. It's up to you alone.

I've also seen objections because this shows the candidate 'doesn't trust the recruiters.' Well that's good- because you CAN'T trust recruiters by and large. There are definitely some very very good and trustworthy ones out there- but you have to go through all the other ones to find those ones. More often than not, you have to act with the same amount of caution as you would any other kind of sales person. Sales people are there to sell. That is their job. And ultimately- you the candidate are not their client- the client is. So they are not beholden to you and you are expendable to many of them. Again- this is not true across the board without exception- but there are enough bad eggs to ruin the ratio enough to be very cautious. Open up fully only to those recruiters who have proven themselves to be trustworthy.

#3- Market value is measured by how much someone is willing to pay

This is just simple economics. We don't go to the gas pump expecting to pay an incremental rise or fall based only on the prior price. Value isn't determined by prior value- it's determined by current value. This means that it doesn't matter what gas cost last week- it's current value is x (based on all sorts of other factors). Your value as a candidate is not determined by what you used to make- it's determined by what the market will pay right now in your location for your skillset. That is the factor you should be focused on and that is the factor you should get your recruiter focused on.

#4- The recruiters who push this point tend to be the dishonest ones

I've been placed in lots of roles with recruiters over the past decade and I have had the previous salary question asked of me dozens of times. If you are a recruiter reading this- ask yourself- have you had this same experience? Can you say you've been in my shoes as a candidate using recruiters and can you say you haven't also been asked this many times?

For at least 5 years, I have not revealed my salary history to recruiters. I have only told them what I perceive my market value to be. Not only do I get work, but I make substantially more than I did 5 years ago. Imagine that. I didn't actually need the recruiters who pushed this issue- and neither do you, dear reader. If you have a recruiter that pushes this issue, drop them. Don't work with them. Go find a recruiter that is willing to work with your market value instead.

In my experience, I have found that the ones who have pushed the salary history question have also been the ones that misrepresented the position to me, or misrepresented me to the client. These recruiters were more focused on the margin than they were focused on the fit. If you are a recruiter who pushes me on knowing my salary history, I know immediately that the dollars are more important than the fit. And to me- if that is your focus as a recruiter- you're a bad recruiter.

#5- You have a budget too

Recruiters are absolutely fixated on their client's budget because the client is who they really work for. Nobody is focused on your budget but you. That means you have to be the sole representative of your budget. How much money do you need to do the things you want to do with your life? If you have done the research and you're worth substantially more than what you're currently making- you should shoot for that value because frankly- you need the money. I don't know anyone who would say they couldn't use a raise, or perhaps a bit more financial leeway so they could better plan for the future. We all need to make more money for the sake of our families, our futures, and our fun.

Advocate for yourself. Don't let the past define the future. Communicate your budget to your recruiter- they will understand because they have their own budget too. If they don't understand- drop them.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, job search is about upward progress. If you're not better today than you were yesterday, you're not building a very good future for yourself. Being better means more knowledge, better honed skills, more failures. Never stop progressing- and search for those recruiters who will partner with you to help you meet your highest potential. The rest of them will do just fine without you.

About the author: Daniel Allen is a 32 years young designer/architect that has a lot of experience working with recruiters from the talent side. He is the founder of the reddit jobs search engine KarmaJobs. He's also recording an EP! During the day, he is a UX strategist for Discovery Communications.