An unfortunately common job interview question is, “What is your current salary?”
This puts applicants in an awkward position. If they’re seeking a new job, chances are that they’re not too happy with their current salary and don’t want to use it as a baseline. Furthermore, they could be being underpaid in their current position and hope that a new role will pay them a wage more in line with market rates.
Some states and cities have even outright banned the question—and yet, applicants will occasionally find themselves having to give a response to this peculiar query.
So how does a job applicant resolve this? TikTok user @legzeii has an answer: lie.
The creator has previously posted other videos relating to workplace issues. In this video, which has garnered over 391,000 views since it was shared Friday, @legzeii writes, “When they ask you ‘what is your current salary’ and you bump it up by 10K cos they never check anyway.”
@legzeii that’s sensitive information #legzeii #officelife #work #9to5 #corporate ♬ RealestK Toxic – RealestK
As one might expect, career advisors suggest that one does not lie about their salary.
However, many also note that an applicant doesn’t have to discuss their previous salary at all, instead countering with their own expectations for the role.
“Both [Career Coach Theresa] Merrill and [talent acquisition manager Lauren] Neves recommend doing your research and knowing what the range is for similar roles,” reads an article in Forbes. “Remember that the company has budgeted for this role, so it’s OK to turn the question back around and ask, ‘What’s the salary for this job?’”
“If you get to the point where you feel you must give them something, provide a range—not a hard number,” Merrill tells Forbes.
That said, many users in the comments section noted that they’ve found success using @legzeii’s advice.
“I did that after researching average prices,” shared one user. “Got myself a 25% raise when I started.”
“I did this as an experiment and while making $65k,” recalled another. “I interviewed at a place I was gonna go to. Asked $90k, offered $85k + extra week [vacation].”
“I did this years ago and went from 18k to 30k in one job move,” stated a third.
However, others claimed that this doesn’t always work out as planned.
“I get asked for a payslip all the time??” wrote a user.
“They will ask your [references] as well,” added a second.
The Daily Dot reached out to @legzeii via email.
