Recruiters care about you (so don't lie)
I was in this situation a few years ago. I'm not an immigrant (or similar), but my salary was a good third lower than the market rate of my area: I was getting 42k/yr. When market rate was close to 65k/yr. I told recruiters (after I found out1 ), "I was underpaid, sure, but it was a small startup company, I was right or of college, my expenses were low, and I didn't mind: I liked working there. But now that I'm looking, I'd certainly like to be paid my fair value (esp. if I have to relocate)."
Your situation is a little different, but as long as you lay it out there, you'll be fine. A recruiter's job is to employ you and will fight for you. As long as you tell the truth (though there are things you don't have to tell them...like your past salary!) they don't actually care so long as they are able to best represent you to an employer.
It may take an interview (or ten) before you get an offer, but that's true of anyone. Don't beat yourself up too much over one phone call. There's no shame in having "red flags", as long as you own up to them. And in the grand scheme of things, having been taken advantage of its pretty minor. There were good reasons for it, but now two, three, five years later those reasons aren't so valid anymore.
- Early before I knew my own value I said, "I don't know what fair pay is for me, I was only recently told I was underpaid. You're a recruiter in this area, I'll defer to your judgement." After a couple numbers from different agencies I knew what market value was as they all gave me the same number.
manpreet![Tuteehub forum best answer]()
Best Answer
2 years ago
I work in the IT industry and I am considered underpaid as per my job experience and current market rate. When I started looking for other opportunities, some recruiters/employers are quite shocked at how low I am getting (50% less than they expect for someone with my years of experience). (In the country I am working at, it is quite common to disclose your current salary to employers.)
Anyway, there are a few reasons I am not getting the market rate:
Recently, a recruiter for a good company has shown interest in my CV but he had the same reaction about my current salary. Like he repeated my current salary to make sure that he was hearing it correctly. Of course, given the opportunity to interview, then I'll have the chance to prove myself. However, I worry that he may not even call again. Please note that this is a company that I really, really want to work for (think of this company as Google/Amazon-sized) and I don't want to blow my chances in any way.
Should I write to him explaining why I am currently underpaid? Or is that unnecessary? I have a chance to send this recruiter a follow-up email after our call and I just want to make sure that I say the right things.
Any advice?