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Comment by novia | Hacker News Reader

I have an entry level position at my firm, and I was applying to other internal positions that more closely match my skill set, but which would cause me to have a huge increase in pay. One interviewer/screener asked me how much I was currently making, and I said I'd prefer not to disclose that information. Their response was, "That's ok, I can just look you up in our system. Ah, you make $x." It was so infuriating.

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This behavior is telling you (maybe not intentionally or consciously), that you need to look outside the company for a large pay bump. Unfortunately, many companies do this.

And honestly, there is a middle ground that a company needs to walk, otherwise on the far side, they can be a ship full of very well paid employees on a trip where a few thin years could sink it.

But to be clear, it's absolutely not in your personal interest to receive low pay for the benefit of the firm - especially in an entry level position.

Yeah, I have been focusing 100% on external positions since then.

Not too much you can do in that situation, unfortunately. I usually approach that as a "focus on getting a raise"-type strategy, which is a little different than negotiating starting salary. You did the right thing in your situation and just got unlucky :(

So why did they ask? To see if you would lie?

Most likely they had to ask every applicant the same list of questions.

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