Exaggerating previous pay in job interviews?

youcancallmeal

Is there any problems with this? I recently did an interview where the job advertised was 10k more than my current job so in the interview I told them I was getting paid around 3k under the advertised position. I presume they would just figure out the truth when you give them the P45 from your previous job?

Its just if your getting paid well under the advertised rate for a new job I reckon employers tend to think "Well they got paid x amount in their previous then they must be good"

Where is x is a large amount of money.

Kipperhell

You don't have tp give the employer your P45 to avoid the new company finding out your last salary. You send it directly into the tax office instead.
It is perfectly exceptable to lie about your last salary but it should not be discussed during the interview if possible. I think most people expect it to a certain extent.
People can easily undercut themselves and I hav known people who moved to Dublin thinking they were getting a good wage compared to their country wage.

Hagar

Your new company will find out from the tax office, they have to set up cumulative year to date totals in order to correctly tax your new salary.

youcancallmeal

Well nearly every interview I've been to in recent times they would always bring up the question of Salary, most time toward the end of the interview when it winding down. Either they would ask what your previous salary was or what salary you would be expecting from the job.

I hate these questions. If the advertise x amount then thats it as far as I'm concerned, obviously if there is a range then your previous experience would come into to play then.

connundrum

Well surely they'll only find out once they've offered you the job, you accepted it and are actually working there.. at which time they can't really sack you for asking for a higher salary - they could have said no to your demand.

I think its perfectly acceptable to exaggerate what you were on, as long as you don't take the piss like.

I went for a role recently where the basic advertised was 30-40k, now obviously I'm gonna say that I'm on 32-33k and am looking to move up a notch, whereas I might only be on 29-30k.

leeroybrown

I've had job offers that explicitly stipulate that the offer is based on all information provided being truthful. I'm not quite sure what the legal standing of offers like these are though. Actually, I vaguely remember someone on this board saying that they were sacked for overstating their salary after their P45 was seen by the employer. Search might dig it up.

Ultimately 7,000 isn't much per week and it's early in the year. It could easily be explained by a couple of days unpaid leave or a refund to an employer for overpayment of salary or expenses. That said, if you do plan to tell a second lie think it through carefully as you don't want to be caught.

tibor

Hagar wrote:

Your new company will find out from the tax office, they have to set up cumulative year to date totals in order to correctly tax your new salary.

Sure about that? Friend of mine was recently in the position where he changed jobs and had exaggerated his pervious salary, the Revenue assured him his new employers won't have access to his previous tax details. He managed to get himself a nice 40% jump(!) and is a few months in without repercussions.

Hagar

I'm open to correction but my understanding was that a P45 contained details of earnings, tax paid and PRSI paid year-to-date figures so that they could be passed to a new employer to correctly continue taxing the employee at the appropriate rate. An employee starting a new job without a P45 goes on an Emergancy Tax rate until their details are ascertained. If someone starts a new job having been un-employed since the start of the current tax year naturally the will be no YTD figures for the new employer to see. Also if the employee is on a "Week 1" basis again this may make a difference as previous earnings are not taken into account by the employer and a balancing operation is carried out by the Revenue at the end of the tax year. This may have changed in the couple of years but I'm pretty sure that is the way it used to work.

Kipperhell

Haggar your new employer would never be told what you earned as they would not be aware of what you have in the way of tax credit. They could try and reverse what you earned but are unlikely to do so and won't know for sure one way or the other. Also considering most people who pay wages etc... are not the people who actually make the job offer puts you in a safer position.
As for interviews involving talk of salary all the books suggest salary should not be discussed. If pushed on the point you are meant to say you expect terms in line with market prices and/or as advertised but avoid actual figures if possible. The interview is meant to be a assesment of you and not a negotiation. It can be tricky but most importantly you should never bring up the subject for sure.

Hagar

Are you sure? The details are all on the P45 that you are supposed to give to you employer. Link

While I agree that the P45 will go to the wages office and not your immediate boss, as a manager I always checked the P45 of anyone I hired. It pays to be thorough. If salary was grossly lied about what else was lied about at the interview? A bit of padding is expected. TBH if there was none at all I'd wonder had the new guy any ambition or drive at all.

/edited Typo

godtabh

I just got a job were I told them I was on 40k but am really on a few grand less. The offer I got was just over the 40k mark so I was happy.

I went to an interview before had were they knew how much I was on and offered me an extra grand. Didnt take it and got a 4k raise two weeks later.

A little white lie is expected. If the people didnt think you were worth the money they wouldnt offer it to you

misterq

you can request a re-issued p45 form from revenue that does not show your previous earnings. Contact Revenue for details.

Though if I saw one, I would immediately suspect something was up.

On another note, relax, they obviously think your worth the money if that is what they offered to have you.

If they don't think your worth it, they won't be slow in telling you.

MrPudding

misterq wrote:

you can request a re-issued p45 form from revenue that does not show your previous earnings. Contact Revenue for details.

I know several people that have done this. It is no problem at all.

MrP

bullrunner

connundrum wrote:

Well surely they'll only find out once they've offered you the job, you accepted it and are actually working there.. at which time they can't really sack you for asking for a higher salary - they could have said no to your demand.

yeah they can actually sack you. A lot of companies will state in the contract that if any information you provided in the interview turns out to be incorrect they can dismiss you. Also you will (most likely still) be on probation during which time they can dismiss you immediately without reason!