I have reason to believe my current salary is below market rate by £10-15K for someone with my level of experience (3-5 years) and industry specialism.I am working on improving my BATNA with my employer, but I've also started looking elsewhere.Do prospective employers have any way of finding out if I inflate my salary in my applications/interviews? I understand that you can choose to send Part 2 of the P45 to HMRC rather than directly to the new employer. This would hold back details on income earned this year to-date. Is there anything else to watch out for? Would you suggest any other sensible strategies how I could go about rectifying my salary situation?

You might want to provide details of your total package, rather than salary, when asked. Usually this will be a good deal higher than your basic wage, and you don't have to disclose exactly how it's constructed.

Always annoys me a bit when I hear about employers wanting to know current package... Stinks of lazy recruiting. current salary is all a bit of an irrelevance to te proceedings. You may be on £25k but if you've decided there's no way your gonna move for anything less than£50k, then a HR bod sticking an extra default £5k on your current package and offering £30k helps no one.

I'm with BEP - the only reason they ask your current salary is, most likely, to low ball you. If they ask "what is your current salary" I would just say what your salary expectations are for this role and why - be polite but firm. Is a new employer really going to trawl through your P45 and then do a convoluted calculation to see if your salary matches what was said in an interview 3 months ago? Doubt it. If they do, they are clearly a) too paranoid and b) not worth working for!

It's completely expected of you. HR may be useless sometimes, but they're not completely stupid.Well, not about this anyway.

Any forms that ask for current package are regularly filled in as either "0" or "Negotiable". Anyone asking for figures should expect a deferential but firm answer that "you are willing to consider any reasonable offers". Keep this in mind - the first person to put a number on the table is always at a disadvantage. Any attempt to coerce you into thinking about this differently is either the HR lady or recruiter not having thought the process though properly themselves, or them trying to play you.Why? Because unless you hit the exact sweet spot (which is very unlikely), the odds are stacked against you - you either go above and beyond what they are willing to pay, or undersell yourself. And the employer has an infinite advantage at pricing this up. So why expose yourself if you can wait for them?

Very true. And don't forget this is typically coming from the same HR department which, once it has recruited you, will have a VERY clear idea and an utterly non-negotiable stance about "grades" and "salary bands" and "percentage increases" (often to the nearest hundredth of a percentage point!!!!).London Consultant is right. The only reason they ask for your current salary is so that they get the upper hand in negotiations and ensure that they don't pay you "too much". Heaven forbid you're currently on £30K and they make you an offer of £45K.

Unless of course you work for a firm that respects it employees on the way in, as much as those employed and as much as those who have spent their time in the company and have decided to move on to pastures new.Some people have a very cynical view of the world.

What is the link between respect and wanting to know the details of one's historic earnings?

Just remembered something that happened last month that is another in favour of "say nothing" rather than "inflate it" - someone was applying as an experienced hire and was coming from an IB - while his base salary was probably about right, the bonus figure he gave was almost definitely the 'high end' of what he could've got. That put him about 5k over the top of the band of what he was applying for and as he wasn't cut out for that grade, that tipped the scales to "no offer"

Some sound advice here.As someone managing a cost centre and making hiring decisions, I'm not that bothered what people currently earn, and don't ask.I'm very interested in what they'll move for and what they will cost me. I don't want to spend 10 grand more on a candidate than they'd be happy accepting. I can use that to pay them a bonus they'll be delighted with, at the same cost.No data is a bit like going into a shop with no prices. Not necessarily conducive to a successful transaction.