Bethanye Blount [Archive.org URL]

One of the greatest sources of compensation inequity is that question every candidate dreads: What are you making now? It’s a really common practice, and it compounds a lot of biases. If someone is not a great negotiator, for example, or took a lower salary to work in the nonprofit sector, they’re set up to under-earn for their whole career. The truth is, the last job is history, and compensation should be based on the future: how substantial do you expect the employee’s contributions to the company to be. Underrepresented groups are significantly more affected by this question, which just compounds any compensation disparity within organizations.

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