Being a headhunter is a funny job. One
of the last standing taboos is the most common topic in my world…your salary.
A Stepstone survey, involving over
10,000 participants in Europe, reveals that only
20% of employees talk openly about what they earn. The remaining 80% prefer not
to talk about their salary, and certainly don't discuss it with anyone who
isn’t a close friend or family member. 29% think the topic is strictly private
and don’t discuss it with anyone. Although the remaining half of the survey
respondents do talk about their salary, they only do so with close friends or
family.
So that is maybe why some of my
candidates do not want to share any earnings information with me…
In my world it does not work that
way.
When I contact you, one of my first
questions will be how much your current salary is. Am I that curious?
Not really, well at least not on
the subject of your earnings, and I have no intention of being intrusive but
your salary level provides me some basic information to assess your fit with
the search.
Your compensation will usually
reflect quite correctly your seniority and your experience. Consequently, it
will also give me an idea as to whether you are too junior, too senior or at
the right level for a position.
It also prevents unrealistic
expectations and unpleasant surprises when the whole process ends with an
offer. To avoid this, salary information is one of the first things I will
share with my clients. It serves no one to enter a process that may result in
you being excited about the opportunity and an offer far below what you
currently make.
Your salary will serve as a
guideline should it come down to an offer. A lot of candidates ask me what they
can expect when I call them with the good news. My standard response is that we
are not on a Moroccan market. The best bargainer will not win the deal!
Preparing an offer is quite an
analytical exercise where your current salary is compared with the benchmarks
and compensation guidelines a company uses to grade its employees. Usually an
increase will be added to make the offer attractive but increases of 15 to 20%
are rare.
You can always try to negotiate but
experience shows that offers tend to be well balanced, offering you a fair
compensation for the results you have to achieve while at the same time leaving
some room for future increases.
All in all, prying you about one of
the most private topics in your live serves a purpose. And to me, it is just
data…
I look forward to hearing from you,
Isabel
Through a personalized and
tailor-made approach, Ingenium Executive Search aspires to assist you in
attracting the right talent that matches the DNA of your company
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@IngeniumSearch
