[Schattenjäger]

i did..

am i screwed?

[bud]

What did you say and where do you work and whats your job

[Sjoerd]

Everybody does! Right?

[Schattenjäger]

i exagerrated my pay by about 10,000

[teiresias]

Well, I don't think I'd ever lie about my current salary, but if I were to leave my job, which is a federal government job, I'd certainly expect to be compensated at private industry rates rather than federal government rates for my experience level - so the employer shouldn't think they can just offer you 2k more than you make now and be golden.

[KamikazeChick]

It depends if the company calls your previous employer to verify income. I can tell you that if I found out an applicant lied to me while I was interviewing them or falsified documents - I would not hire that individual.

[Schattenjäger]

i was under the impression it was illegal to disclose salary information..

stupid me

[Triumph]

Generally speaking, I have a policy about lying to potential employers. It's only AFTER I'm employed that I will begin the lying stage of our relationship.

[snacknuts]

Sure I have. I got my current employer to bump up their starting pay rate offer by $2/hr by telling them I was making more than I actually was at my old place of employment.

[Brobzoid]

I lied about things to my current, and very recent employer. God frowned, he did.

[xBigDanx]

Well considering salary is one of the few things previous employers can verify, it is risky to lie about it.

Though current salary isn't really relevant in an interview. They don't need to know it - if they want it, they can find it out on their own. Usually the best path is to reply with your desired salary when they ask you what you are making now.

[Stele]

Somebody never went to Interviewing 101. You're not even supposed to talk about salary until after the deal is closed.

With some firms, if they found out you lied, they'll even make some calls and in cities where the entire job market in some fields are concentrated in a select few prestigious companies, you're done.

But if you're just on a hourly paycheck, it doesn't really matter.

[Schattenjäger]

Somebody never went to Interviewing 101. You're not even supposed to talk about salary until after the deal is closed.

who said anything about during the interview?

i was asked about my salary prior to interviewing for the job

[ronito]

they can and will figure it out through a background check/tax info. Be honest with them, just say I make this much, but it will take this much for me to change jobs. Remember they're out for themselves too, they're not altruistic.

[AlanHemberger]

Somebody never went to Interviewing 101. You're not even supposed to talk about salary until after the deal is closed. With some firms, if they found out you lied, they'll even make some calls and in cities where the entire job market in some fields are concentrated in a select few prestigious companies, you're done. But if you're just on a hourly paycheck, it doesn't really matter.

Pretty much.

Lying about how much you make only works on wage based pays. That way you can say, "Well, that doesn't count the overtime!" lolz

[Stele]

who said anything about during the interview? i was asked about my salary prior to interviewing for the job

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that on the illegal questions list along with your age, family, place of birth, etc. that Human Resources can't ask?

[Schattenjäger]

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that on the illegal questions list along with your age, family, place of birth, etc. that Human Resources can't ask?

thats the impression i was under..

i thought companies could only verify where you worked.. i had no idea salary could be verified.. i would consider that confidential informaton.. let alone the fact its considered taboo to speak about your salary to others

[Tamanon]

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that on the illegal questions list along with your age, family, place of birth, etc. that Human Resources can't ask?

No it's not illegal to ask that.

And we just had one guy fired after a couple weeks after he inflated his previous salary by 10k to get a better offer here.

[Manmademan]

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that on the illegal questions list along with your age, family, place of birth, etc. that Human Resources can't ask?

Er, salary is definitely one of those things that is almost ALWAYS asked. If it's high compared to the typical applicant ($10,000 higher is definitely noticeable, IMHO) they'll definitely ask your previous employer about it. bad move.

HR will also typically ask for your age (via date of birth) and social security number as part of routine background checks. this isn't illegal at all.

[Schattenjäger]

No it's not illegal to ask that. And we just had one guy fired after a couple weeks after he inflated his previous salary by 10k to get a better offer here.

lol..if they make me an offer, i guess ill have to decline it..

[Stele]

HR will also typically ask for your age (via date of birth) and social security number as part of routine background checks. this isn't illegal at all.

HR definitely can not ask you your age even indirectly through the birthdate, because it's obvious that's the only reason they would ask for it. More indirectly would be through education history and years of work experience.

[aoi tsuki]

IIRC, they ask for salary info and whether you're elligible for rehire. i think there's a third thing they ask but i can't remember what. From my experience, however, the hiring manager might squeeze a little more info out of the previous employer if they feel it's necessary. Not legal, but it happens.

i've only lied about my salary once, and that was when the idea was offered to me by my old manager. He understood why i left and was really cool about things, and offered to report an inflated salary when asked.

[Triz]

With background checks becomming standard when hiring...if you lie about your income they will know. That kind of information is disclosed when the report is ran.

[xBigDanx]

who said anything about during the interview? i was asked about my salary prior to interviewing for the job

wtf? before you even interviewed? That means they don't pay much and more than likely you won't want to work there.

[Phoenix]

No never. Why would you even try - they'll just call your current employer to get the information confirmed anyways.

[Tamanon]

wtf? before you even interviewed? That means they don't pay much and more than likely you won't want to work there.

Actually it's used a lot by companies that are hiring a lot of people quickly so they cna just make a quick offer of a bit more than the previous salary instead of doing lengthy research on wage levels and hiring practices:P

[argon]

Give them a truthful account of your salary history if they ask for it.

If you find their subsequent offer unacceptable, you can still haggle for a higher salary. Tell them you have another job offer on the table that pays more, you're deciding between the two and leaning towards their company.. but you want to know if their salary proposal is final.

They may ask "well what are you looking for..", and you can then ask them what their salary range is for new hires in that position. Also, make sure you know the location's median salary for someone of your experience.

Not sure if this will work but it worked for me (I actually had another offer on the table, but it doesn't really matter if you do or not). Just make sure all the salary talk is after you get a confirmed job offer.

[Manmademan]

HR definitely can not ask you your age even indirectly through the birthdate, because it's obvious that's the only reason they would ask for it. More indirectly would be through education history and years of work experience.

perhaps you weren't listening. HR most certainly DOES ask for date of birth and social security number if background checks are required. I do recruiting for a living, happens all the time, and is certainly not illegal.

an increasing number of employers are also checking your credit also, so watch out for that one.

much like a drug screening, you can decline to give it to them, but you also remove yourself from consideration for the job by doing so.

[Stele]

perhaps you weren't listening. HR most certainly DOES ask for date of birth and social security number if background checks are required. I do recruiting for a living, happens all the time, and is certainly not illegal. much like a drug screening, you can decline to give it to them, but you also remove yourself from consideration for the job by doing so.

Do you work for a small business with less than 20 employees? I know ADEA doesn't cover for businesses with less than 20 employees, but not only should you not be asking for birthdates, you shouldn't even ask when someone graduated just to be safe. Personally, I've never been asked for my birthdate or a drug screening and I've worked for grocery chains, one-hour photos, small accounting firms right up to the Fortune 500s such as Aetna and IBM. Just because you're doing it doesn't make it less illegal.

[Tamanon]

Do you work for a small business with less than 20 employees? I know ADEA doesn't cover for businesses with less than 20 employees, but not only should you not be asking for birthdates, you shouldn't even ask when someone graduated just to be safe. Personally, I've never been asked for my birthdate or a drug screening and I've worked for grocery chains, one-hour photos, small accounting firms right up to the Fortune 500s such as Aetna and IBM. Just because you're doing it doesn't make it less illegal.

It's not illegal at all, especially since they need that information to begin with to determine if you're actually able to work a full-time job:P

[norinrad21]

I'm not sure about salary but just don't tell them anything they didn't ask during the interview:p

[xBigDanx]

Actually it's used a lot by companies that are hiring a lot of people quickly so they cna just make a quick offer of a bit more than the previous salary instead of doing lengthy research on wage levels and hiring practices:P

I guess that explains why I would withdraw myself from consideration if I was asked that before the interview. My first thought would be "If they are asking me this now, there is no way they can pay me what I want".

[Troidal]

Call me ignorant, but when did this become a bad thing?

Isn't this how you were supposed to leverage with new potential employers for a higher salary? I mean they *can* do background checks and find out you may be lying but...

[Dynamite Shikoku]

I lie about everything. They won't find out.

[tnw]

I so desperately wanted the job I have now, salary never came up once until I was signing my contract. Luckily it was a signifigant jump up from the previous job (JET) with all of the benefits.

I never lied about my salary before though.

[emomoonbase]

I thought everybody did this? I do when I'm looking to move to a different job. When I got on at the truck fabrication place I told them I was making $16/hr when I was really making $12/hr. They told me they couldn't do $16/hr, $14/hr was the best they could do. I acted all dejected but agreed. $2/hr pay raise! Bam!

[Schattenjäger]

update:

so they made me an offer with pretty much what I was asking for..

so i guess i cleared the background check..

will this bite me in the ass later down the line?

[tt_deeb]

no, if they get suspicious just say you forgot

[dem]

They can just find out your current salary?
Well thats not good.
How is that allowed?

Stupid HR..
I hate HR

[Tauntaun]

update: so they made me an offer with pretty much what I was asking for.. so i guess i cleared the background check.. will this bite me in the ass later down the line?

Only if your boss is into that sort of thing. ;) Grr baby!

[h1nch]

update: so they made me an offer with pretty much what I was asking for.. so i guess i cleared the background check.. will this bite me in the ass later down the line?

Just because they made you an offer doesn't necessarily mean your BG check came back yet. Hell, I just got a written job offer that said in very plain english that the offer was contingent upon me passing my background check. At my current job I didn't even fill out info for the bg check until I was already hired and filling out newhire paperwork. plus I remember at my old job they fired a guy who had been there for a week after his bg check cameback and they found some discrepancies (not for salary, but for lying about not having a criminal record). I don't mean to scare you or anything, just saying what I've observed in my (albeit short) experience in the working world.

[Manmademan]

Do you work for a small business with less than 20 employees? I know ADEA doesn't cover for businesses with less than 20 employees, but not only should you not be asking for birthdates, you shouldn't even ask when someone graduated just to be safe. Personally, I've never been asked for my birthdate or a drug screening and I've worked for grocery chains, one-hour photos, small accounting firms right up to the Fortune 500s such as Aetna and IBM. Just because you're doing it doesn't make it less illegal.

no. I'm an outside recruiter working for some VERY large companies. I'm in the philadelphia area- every last one of the pharma companies I used to work with (I switched to a different firm 6 months back) did drug screenings. I'm talking about companies like astra zeneca, pfizer, etc REQUIRE extensive drug screenings and background checks before anyone sets foot in the door.

There are also defense contractors in the area (lockheed is one) that require not only drug and background, but various levels of secret clearance ALSO before you can gain employment there.

If you've never been asked to do a drug screening or background check that's fine, but there are PLENTY of companies that do. It's not illegal by any means.