Regarding the issue of divulging previous salary information, I have been  fighting this battle for years. In most cases I don't get past the HR geek sitting at his/her little table in the closet-space office they inhabit.

However, I have noticed lately that my interviews have been more with executives than with managers or below. (These meetings are set up in advance.) I have usually been granted my salary request based on our  conversation(s).

I have become a pro at this. I have had 36 employers in 41 years and one of  those was for ten years. It was about fifteen years ago that I began refusing to give salary information. When they were insistent, I tore the application in half and returned it to them to file in the most appropriate way. I would  not have wanted to work there anyway. HR and reception is where I get my  first and lasting impression of a company -- you get a gut feeling about them. Every time I have gone against that feeling, it backfired on me.

I agree with you whole-heartedly. Also, I believe the more candidates (not applicants) walk away from salary-inquisitive companies, the more impact it will have in the industries. I've done it even when I was unemployed. You  have to be principled, or why should they want you? They have to be  compassionately intelligent or why would you want them?

Blessings,

Larry Mills