What to do when an application form asks for your current salary

Why the field exists, and whether you have to fill it in

Employers ask for current salary for a few ordinary reasons. It is a quick way to screen out people whose expectations are far above the budget, it helps a recruiter judge seniority, and some forms simply carry the field over from an older template. Some employers also use it to shape the offer, which is the main reason to be careful with it.

Whatever the reason, your current salary is your information. Many forms mark the field as optional, and it is fine to leave an optional field empty. When a field is marked compulsory, it usually means the form will not submit without something in it, which you can still meet with an expected range or a short note.

The reason to be careful is simple. If you are underpaid now, a current-salary figure anchors every later conversation at the wrong place. If you are well paid, it can screen you out of a role that would have met you where you are.

Expected versus current: answer the first

What an employer actually needs to know is whether you and they are in the same range for this role. That is your expected salary, and it is the more useful answer to give:

• If the form has both fields, fill in expected and leave current empty where you can.
• If it has only a current-salary field that is optional, leave it empty and put your expected range in the cover letter or a notes box.
• If it has only a compulsory current-salary field, see the options under leaving it blank below.

Answering the expected question is also more honest to the process. Your current pay reflects when you were hired, how your last pay review went and the market at the time. None of that describes what this new role is worth.

Giving a range built from the market, not your payslip

The range should come from what roles like this pay, which takes a little research because many ads do not say. Seek said in November 2023 that only about one employer in four showed a salary on its New Zealand job ads, though its listings showing a salary had risen by a third in a year. So look at the ads that do show pay for similar roles, at similar seniority and in the same region, and note the figures. Ask a recruiter who works in your field what the band usually is. Look at what you were offered in any recent process.

Then set your range:

• Put the bottom of the range at a figure you would genuinely accept.
• Put the top at the upper end of what the market pays for someone with your experience.
• Keep it reasonably narrow, around 10% wide, so it reads as a considered figure rather than a guess.

When an offer arrives, the Negotiation Coach, part of On the Move, turns your evidence and the real offer into the words for the phone call and the email that follows. Our guide to salary negotiation in New Zealand covers the conversations that come later in the process.

Leaving it blank, and when that works

An empty optional field rarely costs you anything. For a compulsory one, there are three workable approaches:

• Put your expected range in it. If the field accepts text, write "Seeking $95,000 to $105,000". Most recruiters read that as a helpful answer.
• Answer it, then add context. If the field only takes a number, either give your actual current salary and put your expected range in the cover letter or notes, or ask first (below). Never put a figure in a current-salary field that is not your current salary.
• Ask. Email the recruiter or HR contact and ask whether they would accept your expected range instead. Many will.

What not to do is guess high or invent a figure. Recruiters sometimes ask for a recent payslip at the offer stage, and a number that does not match is a far bigger problem than a gap in a form.

Recording what you said so you can hold to it

Whatever you enter, write it down beside the application: the exact wording or figure, the date, and what the ad said about pay if it said anything. Across a dozen applications it is easy to give a slightly different number each time, and a recruiter handling several roles may notice.

That record becomes your salary story for the role. When the phone screen asks what you are looking for, you can give the same range. When the offer arrives, you can compare it with what you asked for. And if you find you are consistently asking below what employers offer, you have the evidence to raise your range for the next round.

jobtracker.co.nz keeps this record for you. Each job has a place for what the ad said about pay, what you said you wanted and what they offered, and when the ad gave a range it shows all of them side by side as take-home pay, so the number you gave is in front of you when the phone screen or the offer arrives.

Keep your salary story straight