Tier 2 Consulting Firm asking for Payslip

Question

I am at a target MBA program and I went through the OCR for a Tier 2 firm in the Middle East. I haven’t been given an offer yet but they requested for documents including latest pay-slips. The email said provide justification if you can’t. I asked my classmates that got offers in the ME and they were not asked for these documents. For this Tier 2, all my classmates that got an offer from them got the same request before an offer was handed. I am alittle uneasy about it. I am from a different region with a different compensation structure (Africa). I am afraid of sharing and being low balled even as an MBA hire.

kindly provide insights on how to navigate this situation. Have you ever faced same as an MBA hire? What did you do? if the argument is to check employment history , shouldn’t this be done after signing a contract?

Answer 1

Hi there,

This is really tricky. Please keep in mind that with this answer I am not answering as your coach and I am not liable for the decision you ultimatley take. If I were your coach, I would dive into this further, weigh a lot more, do more research etc. All I am saying here is a gut reaction based on limited information.

If it were me, I would think of really good justification as to why I cannot. I would then not provide the payslips. I would then provide contract/employement evidence, feigning ignorance that presumably they're asking so that they can confirm my employement history so here you go!

This is what I would do, but it runs risk. If you are very risk averse and have no other offers, it may be better to just provide the documents and aim to negotiate when/if they lowball you (referencing that you know your peers are getting x).

Good luck with your decision.

Answer 2

Hi there,

This sounds complex indeed. And if this is how they do it, it's a bit difficult to get out of it.

What works in your favour though is that base compensation is the same for the role, regardless of the origin of the candidate. Basically, all Associates will get the same base. What might differ is the signing bonus that they give you, which of course they'll try to keep as small as needed.

Question is, what do you feel most uncomfortable with: showing them the payslips and potentially being low balled or being taken out of the recruitment process altogether?

This is not the greatest of times for recruitment at the moment, so perhaps it doesn't make sense to push back.

Best,
Cristian

Answer 3

Hi there,

Q: Kindly provide insights on how to navigate this situation.

If they asked for the payslip and you are interested in that company, you will have to provide it, there is no way around it. However if they did not ask specifically for the salary (eg they just want it as proof of employment), you can anonymize the information about the monetary amount (they might still ask for the original later, and if they do so, you will have to provide it).

The base salary in consulting is normally fixed, so that should not be a problem in any case.

Good luck!

Francesco

Answer 4

They may want this only as a confirmation of where you worked before, and until when.