This Q&A about job interviews was in the Sydney Morning Herald recently. Good advice.
I went for a job interview at a company in the same industry, and during the interview I explained, professionally, issues at my current workplace, and why I wanted to leave. Someone who had sat in on the interview called someone they knew at my current job and told them of everything I said. Now, my boss barely gives me the time of day and I didn’t get the other role. Surely, what you say in a job interview is supposed to be confidential?
“You have been dealt with extremely poorly and unprofessionally – it is completely unacceptable that anything you say in an interview for a new job would be shared with anyone, let alone your current employer. This is a tricky situation for you to navigate, as you have discovered, and it is hard to know how you can best work through this, other than look to move on as soon as you can. The behaviour of your boss now, though, is also unacceptable and unprofessional. If it continues, and you feel forced to resign, you may have a claim for bullying, and you can seek advice from the Fair Work Commission about that.
“One thing I would advise for your next interview is to try to speak to generalities of issues that are happening at your current workplace. This is not in case someone was to breach confidentiality again (although it will help), but because it never looks good in an interview to speak badly of your current workplace, regardless of how much they may deserve it and no matter how professionally you do so. Try to speak to generalities of why you might want to leave and then pivot the conversation focus back to what you hope to gain from your new employer.”
The UK experience (BBC)
There is often still one job interview question that leaves you feeling uncomfortable. While employers in the UK are within their rights to ask you how much you get paid in your current role, applicants are not obliged to tell them.
Recruiters are strongly encouraged to stop putting questions about salary history and, in the EU, new rules will prevent them doing so.
But in the UK, there is still a chance of it coming up, so how best should you answer?
Sometimes it feels like interviewers, and interviewees, tip-toe around the subject of money.
But Louise Rudd, a senior adviser at a workplace advice and conciliation service, says there are no regulations that prevent employers from asking interviewees about their current salary, or their salary expectations.
She says employers, if they do want to know, should ask each applicant the same questions to ensure they are treated fairly.
A few years ago, a campaign was launched urging employers to stop asking new recruits how much they were paid in their previous jobs. It had its own hashtag – #EndSalaryHistory.
The Fawcett Society, which campaigns for women and gender equality, said that asking the question risked maintaining historic unfair differences in pay due to gender, race and disability inequality.
Rather than offering a salary based on skills, experience and performance, it meant employers rewarded an individual’s perceived worth and negotiating skills instead, the society said.
The Recruitment and Employment Confederation supported the move, urging recruiters not to ask.
Employers in the EU will be banned from asking about salary history in new rules being rolled out across the bloc.
But that’s not featured in Cabinet Office plans in the UK, which instead concentrates on telling employers to publish salary information in job adverts (desperately needed in Australia).
When you’re going for a new job, you can reveal your current salary if you are happy to.
Some people suggested they would reply with an inflated salary – so they get paid more in the next job. However, the risks of lying in an interview can far outweigh the possible reward.
There are no requirements for you to disclose your salary if you don’t want to.
Rudd says some people might prefer to give their salary expectations, or outline their understanding of the salary range for the role.
Recruitment firms often say applicants could instead focus on their skills and experience, so those are used as a measure of what they should be paid, not their salary history.
Shazia Ejaz, director of campaigns at the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, says jobseekers should approach questions about pay with “realism but also confidence”.
“Candidates can focus on showcasing the value they bring, the benefits that matter most to them and to go to the interview knowing the market rate for the role,” she says.
“Jobseekers who have done their homework on salaries and can explain the contribution they will make are in the strongest position to secure the right package.”