When it comes to your salary history, too much sometimes can be as bad as getting too little. So what do you do when your salary makes you too expensive for the current job market? Though this is something not too many face, but the problem could arise nonetheless.

Here?s how you should go about solving it. Follow the instruction in the answer to the question given below:

Q: What should I do when my salary history makes me really expensive in my current job market? I don?t want to take a huge salary cut, but at the same time, I am not getting success in job interviews because my last salary was too high with respect to the current job market.

A: Ironically, years of experience or having valuable expertise can sometimes put you in a tough spot and leave you feeling frustrated and discouraged. You cannot control where your salary history places you in the job market in your geographic location ? other than to move. On the other hand, there are some actions you can take that may help.

Find out if the reason why employers are reluctant to interview you is related to your salary history, as you assume. You may be right, but there might be other reasons, too. In any case, the best way to gather this information is to persist in asking for it.

Since you may not get an interview if the employer uses salary history as a screen, try different ways to get in front of their key decision-makers. Perhaps through networking or informational interviews, you may find a receptive senior-level contact.

In that case, you can use that personal meeting to directly address their concerns about your compensation expectations, impress and interest them in your skills, and turn them into an advocate in the interview process.

Try to target your job search on those companies who pay higher than the norm for your position. These might be local offices of multinational companies, or in an industry that has to pay more to attract talent (such as hi-tech firms).

Q: How do I respond to the salary history questions thrown at me when I am grossly underpaid in the work that I am doing currently, and I am trying to correct that as I interview for new jobs?

A: Your best strategy is to keep them focused on what is an appropriate amount for you given your experience, skills and credentials today. This requires some homework, since you have to translate those intangibles into a dollar figure or a range of figures.

In addition, be prepared to explain why you are seeking a significant jump in your salary and be ready to help the employer justify paying you this increased amount ? those people do not want to feel as if they are overpaying you.

You could try saying, ?I chose to work at my last job for less than my market value for very specific reasons (e.g., gain experience, restart career, they had money problems). Now that I have benefited from experience, as I look for a new employer, I want to make sure that I am being paid fairly for my talents.?

As you follow this advice, do not forget that you have to be prepared to discuss your current salary, even though it ought to be irrelevant. If that information matters to the employer, they will either insist on talking about it, or they will learn it another way. Try to cover the issue quickly and steer the conversation back to its rightful place ? what you ought to make, given the value of your talents in the current job market.

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