Should salary information be included in a cover letter?

Despite popular belief, salary information  - whether it’s salary history or salary requirements – should NOT be included in your cover letter – or resume.


Why? Simply because companies are asking this information to eliminate candidates from the interview process.


Of course, you do not want them either to think that you haven’t paid attention to the announcement and omitted to include the salary information they requested. So the way to do it is to simply include in your resume cover letter something like “Regarding salary history, I was paid a competitive salary” or “Regarding salary requirements, I am looking for a competitive salary following industry and position standards”.


Please note that if you are sending a cover letter to a recruiter, instead of an employer or HR, you can in that case include your salary information since they will be working for you to help you reach your salary goals.

- Gail Esparan