Salary History And Salary Requirements.parts 2

Yet, some ads will require that you provide “salary history” or “salary requirements” with your resume submission. This indicates that the salary budget may be more fixed, and that salary requirements may be a major factor in the mind of the hiring manager. This doesn’t mean the budget isn’t flexible, just that it may be less so – initially. What to do when a career job ad requires that you provide this information?

“Salary History,” and “Salary Requirements” are two very different things, and need to be handled in different ways:

Salary History

For companies that require salary history for consideration of a position, create a separate document that matches the layout and format of your cover letter and resume, or CV, using the same letterhead, font, format, and stationery. Following the reverse chronological layout of your resume or CV as your guide, present your entries as such, beginning with your most recent position:

Your Title
Company Name
Dates of Service
Annual Salary:
(or)
Beginning Salary:
Ending Salary:
(to show growth)

So that it would look something like this:

{Your contact information on letterhead that matches your resume and cover letter}

SALARY HISTORY

Director of Sales & Marketing
ABC Corporation, Cleveland, OH
June 2004 - January 2008
Annual Salary: $78,000

(or)

Director of Sales & Marketing
ABC Corporation, Cleveland, OH
June 2004 - January 2008
Beginning Salary:  $75K, plus insurance, 401(k) and travel expenses
Ending Salary:       $78K, plus insurance, 401(k) and travel expenses

You can (and should) include other compensation information, such as insurance benefits, 401(k), bonus packages, and commissions - either as individual items or as an added financial figure in your total salary amount.

Why do potential employers want to know previous salary history? Unfortunately, this information is used in two ways:

1. To weed out individuals who appear to be over or under qualified (whether this is actually true, or not).
2. To gain an advantage at the negotiation table.

For a position that has been budgeted in the $45K to $50K range, the candidate above will appear to be "overqualified," and will probably be less interested in pursuing the position. If the candidate has shown a previous salary history well below the budgeted range, the hiring manager may assume that the candidate will present a great opportunity for salary negotiation, and the hiring manager may actually be able to come in under budget.

By Sue Campbell   jobs employment