And you wonder why people like Mobile Air Jover got away. It is because consumers do not understand their rights and therefore do not even know what they need to insist. It is the same with job seekers.

Striking up a casual conversation with HR (or anyone from the company for that matter) is perfectly fine, but personal questions should not be construed in the context where it can make or break the chances of getting the job. Focus should always be on relevant skills and experience and capacity in performing the job. More importantly, HR should readily accept candidates preference not to disclose personal information, especially if it has no relations to the advertised job and even more so as the Candidate is not even an employee to begin with.

Besides, HR should really be "pricing" a job based on the job responsibilities and scope as well as what the market rate is for similar capacity jobs. In other words - what the role should be paid in dollar sense. The candidates' last drawn pay has absolutely nothing to do with how much he should be paid for the role. If the role is priced at $X +/- 5% then the successful candidate should be offered $X regardless of how much lesser or more he earned in his current role. With greater transparency in remuneration guidelines, companies score with higher retention because even there is no monetary incentive for the Candidate to quit for another similar job as the pay would be the same.

Food for thought to HR? If anyone if from HR it will be interesting to hear from HR perspective.