[wordswords]

I've found that www.glassdoor.com offers a great way to find out the average salary at big companies before you apply for them.

For the UK, I also use www.itjobswatch.co.uk, which plots salaries against skillsets and areas.

[Skydiver]

fromTheSprawl, on 08 October 2012 - 12:09 AM, said:

From what I'm reading on Google it seems that not all companies ask you to keep your contract confidential, so I guess you're right, but from where I'm from all the jobs I know with contracts ask for confidentiality.

It's unethical since it can cause grief to any party involve in the questioning, as they said above, it's rude.

Slightly off topic: When I was growing up in the Philippines, it was considered "unethical" to mention the name the other brand in an advertisement, even if you could completely avoid the slander laws by just stating truthful facts about the competition.

Back on topic:
So if the information is so confidential, then that means you don't need to disclose your income to:
- the tax collection agencies
- the credit card companies
- job applications asking how much you are currently making

[fromTheSprawl]

Yeah, definitely lots of craziness here.

I don't know how it works in the US, but usually when some form of agency asks for income they put in ranges instead of asking you to put in the exact amount.

Yeah, you won with the credit card companies.

Another question, is it okay to decline answering the last item above? What if the company uses it as a basis to lower the pay they're going to offer you?

[modi123_1]

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Another question, is it okay to decline answering the last item above?

As long as it is polite - sure.. you can decline answering, but then again they can decline to move our application along the process.

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What if the company uses it as a basis to lower the pay they're going to offer you?

Typically that's a factor of why they ask.