Who should be the first to mention salary at a job interview: a recruiter's advice has gone viral

Mercedes Johnson, a freelance recruiter, advises job seekers to always ask for a high salary. According to her, employers often respond to the requests of their employees and candidates but do not offer high payments themselves. Therefore, it is not worth keeping silent about the numbers.

According to HuffPost, Johnson offered the woman a job for $85,000 despite the fact that the company she was working with had planned a budget of $130,000 for the position. The woman told the story online. It provoked a mixed reaction and went viral. Moreover, the recruiter was fired afterwards.

"I posted it on my personal Facebook to encourage people to appreciate their value," she commented on the firing.

Some users criticized Johnson for publicizing the case.

Commenting on the situation, recruitment consultant Jennifer Tardy noted that this is actually a common practice, but it can perpetuate inequality.

"Many recruiters are used to believing that it's a good thing if a candidate's expected salary is lower than the salary range for the position because they think they are saving the company money, which is often a good thing. The second problem is that many recruiters don't connect this practice - under-rating candidates to save the company money - to the larger systemic problem of unfairness in the hiring process," Tardy said.

In this regard, hiring experts have begun recommending that candidates find out the value of the role they want to get and recognize that "the salary depends on the role, not the person." And then look for a job that matches factors such as desired pay and position.

Other recruitment professionals advised candidates not to be afraid to raise the issue of the budget for a particular position during the first negotiation. According to them, there is nothing wrong with saying, "Hey, could you share what your budget is?" This sheds light on the value of the skills for a particular company and gives them an idea of whether they want to take on the job.

"If the candidate's request is lower, I will still offer them what their skills are worth and what fits into our budget. The fact that the asking price is lower doesn't mean we should pay people less, especially when it comes to people of color, minorities, women, people who don't know how to negotiate, people who have historically been paid less than their white counterparts. As for the recruiters, the responsibility really lies with us," Tejal Wagadia Tejal, a recruiter at a large tech company, said.