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Q: What can I do when my salary history makes me really expensive in the current job market? I don't want to take a huge salary cut, but I am not having success interviewing.
A: Ironically, years of experience or having valuable expertise can sometimes put you in a tough spot and leave you feeling frustrated and discouraged. You cannot control where your salary history places you in the job market in your geographic location -- other than to move. On the other hand, there are some actions you can take that may help:
- Find out if the reason employers are reluctant to interview you is related to your salary history, as you assume. You may be right, but there might be other reasons as well. In any case, the best way to gather this information is to persist in asking for it.
- Since you may not get an interview if the employer uses salary history as a screen, try different ways to get in front of their key decision makers. Perhaps through networking or informational interviews, you may find a receptive senior-level contact. In that case, you can use that personal meeting to directly address their concerns about your compensation expectations, impress and interest them in your skills, and turn them into an advocate in the interview process.
- Target your job search on those companies that pay higher than the norm for your position. These might be local offices of multinational companies, or in an industry that has to pay more to attract talent.
