You don't have to play the game. There are plenty of employers out there who do _not_ ask salary history, or will accept "my expected amount is $x" (which is not based on what you're making right now)
Agree, this is the ideal way. But if my life dependent on one company interview and they ask current salary instead of desired - they will get my desired number as if it was my current
in a hypothetical world where your life depends on one company why would you lie about something that they can easily verify?
in the real world your life is unlikely to depend on the answer to this question. you can always say " i require X" in response to the question and if they probe more decide whether or not your situation requires you to divulge the extra information. i interview people regularly (and i don't ask about salary) but if i found out that someone flat out lied to me in an interview that would be a straight up pass/recommendation to fail a probationary period from me. i don't want or need those relationships on my team.
You can be caught about lying in an interview at any time after the fact. If I interviewed someone and found out they flat out lied in response to a question (side note: I don't ask about salary), it would be an instant no/suggestion to end a probationary period from me.
Because being stuck doing a job that's over your head every single day isn't fun, even if you're getting paid for it. When they say interviewing is a two-way street, they're right.
