????邁克爾?沃爾夫的回答，初創公司創始人

????人們很少會因為你說了什么而認為你“難相處”，更多時候是因為你說話的方式。你確定沒有表現得防御心太重或太過好斗？我希望你沒有說你“不能”透露之前的薪酬。你這樣說只是選擇了避而不談。更好的做法，是說你更希望不說出之前的工資，然后解釋一下原因，并請求獵頭幫忙解決你認為說出來可能導致的問題。

????與對方坦誠地討論一下這個問題。你對目標薪酬應該有非常明確的要求，不妨請獵頭幫你實現目標（記住，如果對方是成功后付費的獵頭公司，你得到的薪酬越高，他們便能賺得更多。）

????此外，要記住大多數獵頭（尤其是后付費的獵頭公司）都是用人單位外聘的專業人士：他們不能充分代表用人單位，在用人單位內部也沒有深層的關系。招聘經理可能甚至都不知道或者不喜歡獵頭，而獵頭也可能同時代表了許多家公司。所以，別擔心會斷了自己的后路，除非招聘人員來自用人單位內部，并且與招聘經理有關系。要表現的足夠專業，并且讓她站到你這一邊，但不要因為她而太過擔心。

????還需要說明的一點是，使用“合作”和“具有團隊精神的人”等術語，讓我對這位獵頭的專業水平表示質疑，我懷疑她是否獲得了自己服務的用人單位的足夠尊重。好的獵頭有很多，而條件優越的求職者也會有許多選擇。如果她讓你感覺不舒服，那就跳過她繼續尋找。

????瑪麗?卡瑞羅的回答，硅谷公司招聘人員

????在談論薪酬話題時，你只需要遵循一條原則：簡潔明了。花在談論金錢上的精力（和話語）越少越好。

????我曾經跟成百上千的人進行過類似對話。那些得到豐厚薪酬、表現最為搶眼的人是這么做的：

????從來不透露他們的薪酬。他們讓我知道，他們對這個職位做過調查，告訴我他們對這個工作的預期，如果公司給出的薪酬與他們的目標不符，他們也會留下一絲余地。例如：“我期望這個職位能給我的薪酬是X，根據我的調查，這個金額也符合行業標準，并且非常接近我目前的薪酬。如果這超出了你或你的客戶的預期，我很愿意大家坐下來談談這個問題；如果機會確實不錯，我愿意重新調整工資預期。”

????沒有說任何與“目標薪酬”有關的話。由于某些原因，這會讓人產生懷疑。這可能暴露出，你現在的工資與你提到的金額相差巨大。

????他們從來不會談論自己如何和為什么薪酬過低，即便這是他們的真實感受。這就像掉進兔子洞一樣；你一定會說出一些負面的話。少即是多。千萬不要打開潘多拉魔盒——沒有人想要知道你的薪酬過低，或者你被低估了，或者你的公司正面臨經濟困難，最近要求你接受降薪。事實上，這些通常都是私密信息，如果你認真讀過雇傭協議的話，你會發現，說這些話可能違反了你在入職時簽署的保密協議。

????Answer by Michael Wolfe, startup founder

????People will rarely call you “difficult” because of what you say. It will more typically be because of how you say it. Are you sure you weren’t defensive or combative? I hope you didn’t say you “can’t” reveal your salary. You are only choosing not to. It would have been better to say that you’d prefer not to, explain why, then ask the recruiter to help you work around the problem you perceive it will cause.

????Have an honest and frank discussion. You could have been very specific about the salary range you are targeting, then engage the recruiter to help you get it (remember the more you get paid, the more they get paid, if they are contingent).

????Also, remember that most recruiters (especially contingent) are hired guns: they don’t represent the company well or have deep roots in the company. The hiring manager may not even know or like the recruiter, and the recruiter may be representing multiple companies at once. Don’t worry that you’ve burned bridges unless the recruiter is in house and seems to have a relationship with the hiring manager. Be professional and get her on your side, but don’t worry too much about her.

????I also have to say that using terminology like “play ball” and “team player” makes me wonder how professional this recruiter is and whether she has much respect from the companies she works for. There are many good recruiters, and a qualified candidate has many options. If you are not comfortable with her, then jump.

????Answer by Mary Carello, recruiter for Silicon Valley-based firm

????When it comes to the topic of compensation, I can give you one rule: clear and simple. The less energy (and amount of words) devoted to talking about money, the better.

????I’ve had this conversation with hundreds (if not thousands) of people. The people who walked away with the biggest salaries and stayed in the most positive light did this:

????Never actually told me their salary. They let me know they did their research about the position and said what their expectations were for it, and left the door cracked open if the available salary was not in line with their numbers. An example: “My expectation is that this position will be paying around X amount, which, from my research, seems to be in line with industry standards for the role and is very close to my compensation now. If this is outside of what you or your client were thinking, I’m happy to have a conversation about it and regroup if it’s a good opportunity.”

????Never said anything about their “target salary.” For some reason, it comes across as suspicious. It can be a giveaway that your pay now is far different than the number you just mentioned.

????Never got into conversation about how/why they were underpaid if indeed they felt they were. This is like going down a rabbit hole; you’re bound to say something that comes off negatively. Less is more. Try not to open Pandora’s box – nobody needs to know you are underpaid or how undervalued you are or that your company is in financial trouble and recently asked you to take a pay cut. In fact, that’s often private information, which if you read your employment agreement documents, can violate non-disclosure agreements you signed when you accepted your job.