My next job paid me $90,000 CAD a year. (Investment bank)
My next job paid me $160,000 USD a year. (Google)
All numbers are all-in comp. All junior dev roles.
Should the bank, and Google have offered me $33,000 and $40,000, so that the new salary isn't too much higher then the old one? Would that satisfy your notion of fairness? When new grads hired by the latter are getting paid $150,000/year?
You are hired to do your new job, not the old one. What the old one paid has no relevance.
I did not defend the practice. I explained why they are asking. It has nothing to do with fairness, and everything to do with employers using it as a negotiating tactic.
In other words: If you don't know what you're worth, of course they won't give you what you're worth.
What if you are current job pays you $400k? In that doesn't it advantage you to talk about your current salary to set an anchor? Also, it helps you avoid jobs/positions who are way below that number.
If your current job pays $400K they are either grossly overpaying or you are in a very narrow band of people in your field and you probably should not be taking too many interviews with people who do not already know what they should be prepared to pay.
People at $400K a year don't apply for a job, they're recruited. Any of the problems mentioned in this thread would likely not apply.
My next job paid me $90,000 CAD a year. (Investment bank)
My next job paid me $160,000 USD a year. (Google)
All numbers are all-in comp. All junior dev roles.
Should the bank, and Google have offered me $33,000 and $40,000, so that the new salary isn't too much higher then the old one? Would that satisfy your notion of fairness? When new grads hired by the latter are getting paid $150,000/year?
You are hired to do your new job, not the old one. What the old one paid has no relevance.