The biggest reason behind changing the job is dissatisfaction from the current salary. Quoting Salary as the sole reason for changing the job is never considered healthy. This shows that the candidate is not concerned with the job profile, and is greedy with only the short term desires. Such candidates reflect the tendency to change every time a better offer is thrown at them. Stability is a big issue with them. Most people are dissatisfied with respect to salary not because of their own lower salaries, but for the higher salaries of other people they know of. It’s the comparison, which creates the problems. No recruiter would consider salary as a valid reason, if a candidate’s salary is at par with the market standards with respect to the industry, profile, and designation, the person is working in currently.
However, if in your case, salary really is an issue, then you must frame your answers in this way, given below;
I am extremely satisfied with the role, company and everything related to my profile and my organization. Working with this organization has been a great learning exposure. As evident, from my resume, I am a very stable person and for me, profile, organization and the learning hold a great importance. However, given the market standards, my current salary is much lesser and it has caused a little dissatisfaction. I have spoken with my company HR about this issue, and I am sure that they must have tried hard, but unfortunately, despite my consistent good performance and repeated reminders, they have not considered the possibility of giving me a raise. Hence, I had to look for a change, and this is why I applied with your organization, because the working environment and the learning process is the same in this company as well, along with a possibility of getting a better compensation, which would be as per the market norms.
In this answer to the interview question asked, you have actually addressed to a host of issues. You told the recruiter positive things about your current role and company, your expectation related to salary, your awareness and research about current market standards, and a valid reason for applying to this company. You have also justified your demand through research, while not demeaning the importance of long term goals, profile and learning. This will definitely be considered.
So the rule of quoting salary as a justified reason to look for a change is to first research whether your salary is really low as compared to what’s being offered to employees in same industry, role and designation. If it is, present your cause with researched figures, else, think of a better reason.
Good Luck!
Vaibhav Gupta
Author – Job Winning Answers to Trickiest Interview Questions