This is just in my experience and it is important to note that every single company and situation is different, I still get surprised after almost 15 years in this industry! So, in my experience I would advise to give your salary information out, certainly to a recruiter. Reasons:
1) A good relationship with your recruiter can have a big impact on the amount of information and opportunities that go your way, not giving salary info can lead to a decrease in trust and it makes their job harder (imagine the scenario – “do I introduce this job to person X, what if its too junior, they’ll think I’m an idiot”). Also pro tip – recruiters have to input your salary into their system so they find you in searches for future jobs. If you don’t give it, they either have to guess your salary or don’t i put anything thereby passing you over for jobs in future.
2) As you become more senior, and depending on the sector (tech, I’m looking at you!) salary levels vary quite dramatically, as does their composition (base + bonus + stock + Long Term Incentive Program + housing + car + healthcare + schooling etc). A “sales director” for example at one of the large cool tech companies could earn up to $800k, which is insane for a sales director at a consumer company who should fall in the range of around $200k-250k unless they’re at a major player like coca cola or P&G. Your recruiter needs to know your compensation so they can intelligently introduce jobs to you, a sales director can become a CEO at a smaller company or subsidiary for example.
3) You and your recruiter should be partners in this fight for a job, and it is a fight even if your recruiter floats like a swan on a river, the feet are kicking dramatically beneath. Many times a client will give a salary range but the recruiter will have a general idea ultimately what the resulting salary will be, which is probably higher than the initial brief. Why? The client will want to give a lower number in the first instance due to “budget” (for the right person who adds value, this can always be flexible) or because in some crude form of negotiation they think that if they start low then they can go higher. So the reality is actually that based on the recruiter’s experience and the deep understanding of the business, plus armed with your “why’s” about why the salary should be at a certain level, “Ms client, person A is not being greedy but they have a number of financial commitments which mean that a salary of $xxx,000 is required. These could be schooling, pensions, husband or wife not working, can be need to look after elderly parents, partner’s elderly parents, etc. Explaining the reasons why the salary should be a certain level gives you a greater chance of getting what you want. Otherwise its guess work for the recruiter and she or he may invest time with someone they are closer to. Another pro tip – keep in mind that for senior roles, the recruiter does the screening and first round interview in many cases. In the end though, the important thing is to get a job where you can create incredible value, then you can write your own salary at the company or move to somewhere that will pay 50% or more higher. It Does happen
Some people may be concerned that they are currently underpaid and therefore do not want to give their potential new hiring company a chance to similarly pay them below market rate. Whether you say your salary up front or not, the hiring company will usually ask your salary history for the last 5 years and in some cases ask to see the tax receipts or documents clearly stating your compensation. Interestingly, more often than not, they are different to whatever the candidate said initially, both higher and lower! Which creates a whole new crease that needs to be ironed out by the recruiter (this is where the recruiter says its their fault, to preserve the integrity and the relationship of the candidate and client – btw this happens a lot, further adding to the negative reputation of the industry, which is unfair but we need to eat the unappetizing sandwich in order to ensure that everything goes smoothly).
