Surviving the Salary Third-Degree

Actually, you still need to plan for a tricky part of the process that might make the difference between getting a job and watching it go to someone else. I'm referring to the salary-history test, in which the company that's considering you insists on knowing what you've earned on every job you've ever had. It's a subject you'll need to deal with adroitly.

Check Before Revealing.

In one typical instance, you may want to change jobs because you're being paid too little for your skills. You would think that an employer would understand. But the prevailing practice in Corporate America, now that labor is a buyer's market, is to pay new hires a little more than (and sometimes no more than -- and sometimes a little less than) they've earned on their last job.

You can't fib about what you've been making, naturally. If you're hired and then caught, your new employer most likely will dismiss you summarily.

Still, being brutally honest has its drawbacks, too. If you say: "My current employer is paying me $53,000, but I'm worth $65,000, and I need to earn that," you could get a frosty reception. For some reason, employers are stuck on the notion that what you're earning must be about what you're worth. So if higher income is your goal, it's best to check out what the new job pays before you line up your interview -- and then to confirm that before you bother to hand over your pay history.

Problematic Highs.

An even more challenging scenario is the one in which you've earned much more at past jobs than the new employer could ever pay you. It may be that you're changing careers, or going into the modestly compensated nonprofit world, or downshifting in some other way.

In this situation, you'll want to spell out your reduced expectations. You'll never get even an initial interview if you submit a six-figure salary history for a $50,000 marketing position unless you tell the employer right up front why pay isn't your top priority. You'll be doomed by the assumption that you'll never be happy in the new job and will soon jump to a better paying one -- or that you have some hidden, horrible defect.

Let's say you worked at a string of Internet startups, each of which paid you better than the last. When the bubble burst, you did the prudent thing and hid out in graduate school for two years. Now you're back on the job market with your MBA, and the local labor market is such that you should be paid about $80K a year. But your salary history still shows those $90K, $105K, and $125K positions.

Up-Front Expectations.

How do you keep from being bounced on the first résumé-sort? You have to be specific: "Now that the job market has changed, my salary expectations are in the $65,000 range." You should even put a note to that effect on your salary-history document. Human-resource screeners may miss the point during their often casual perusal of your curriculum vitae. But the person you'll be working for will get the message.

Here's one last scenario. You left the corporate world three years ago to help your uncle with his custom woodworking business. You did well -- but earned less than your experience would command in the corporate arena. Now you're back and expect to earn more. How do you get that point across?

Put your salary expectation right up front. Say the document is titled: "Jack Clark Salary History." Underneath that, write: "Salary Expectation, October, 2004: $75,000." Then, list (most recent first) your previous positions, the company names, and the final pay you received at each one. Add the aforementioned note to explain your previous pay patterns.

Practice Your Story.

If you have a nonstandard earnings history, in short, you should be prepared to do some extra explaining. Share with your prospective boss the reasons you'll be satisfied with less. "I'm happy that I got to be part of the Internet bubble," you might say. "It was an exciting time. But I don't harbor the delusion that real companies are paying as much for people with just a few years of experience."

The tougher sell is getting an employer to give you the higher pay you know you deserve, despite the deviations in your salary history. So practice your story (e.g., Why did you do that? Why then?).

For instance, if you left a high-income job to make far less and get some great experience, say how that paid off. What did you learn? How is it useful to you now? Example: "The two years I spent in my uncle's woodworking business were invaluable for putting me in a day-to-day operations role, teaching me to manage a payroll and multiple work crews, and to deal with complex customer problems."

Method Behind the Madness.

Even so, if your uncle paid you $20 an hour, you'll need to show a corporate employer why you're worth more. If your answer is: "I'm worth this amount because this is what corporations pay people with my experience," be ready to respond to the rejoinder: "No, that's what we pay people with your experience who have been earning that amount."

Breadth of experience across industries, geographical areas, and functions is a great thing. But careening around the job market isn't a selling point by itself. There has to be method behind the madness.

Now, if you had left a secure job at General Motors to take less pay and join a little startup called Google, that would make a great story to tell your next employer. But in that case, you wouldn't be job hunting, would you?