b/c) My point is that if you give a range, companies will tend to offer towards the lower end of that range. It doesn't matter how many years experience you have or what you change the range dates to. If you are going to give a range, you are essentially giving a low end that you will accept. Many companies will take advantage of that.
It is not my experience that given a range and a time period that most companies will offer towards the low end. When an employer makes you an offer, they want you to accept. They go to a lot of work to approve that piece of paper, they want to save money but they don't want to have you decline. They ESPECIALLY don't want to give you a low offer and lose you to another employer who outbids them.
If you say that in the past five years your compensation has ranged from $50,000 to $150,000, most people will assume that it was $50,000 five years ago and $150,000 today.
If they offer you $55,000 or even $75,000, they are essentially asking you to move backwards in life. They know full well that most people do not wish to move backwards, so they are wasting your time and theirs.
Worse, if they can afford $125,000 or $150,000 and they offer you $100,000, they risk losing you to OtherCo, who are prepared to pay $125,000. This is not good business.
But the question here isn't whether giving"X" is harmful, it's how does it help? Well, many times they think their budget is $50,000. if you tell them $150,000, you don't even get a call.
But what if the hiring manager actually meets you and looks at your Github and takes you to lunch with the team, and loves you? Then he can take your resumé "upstairs" to the board of directors or wherever and plead for more money.
If you give X and Y, you may get to meet that manager. If you only give Y, you may not.
It's entirely up to you. Given my experience, I believe that saying "no" is the best option if you can still get the interview, but giving X and Y is optimal if (a) you can't get the interview without it, and (b) you actually want to work for that employer if they pony up the lettuce you want.
If your experience differs, I can appreciate choosing a different strategy. That's all these things are, strategies for playing a game with incomplete information.
I can see your point here. Perhaps, giving the historical range you are more likely to get the first foot in the door than if you just give a value, or a desired range. So if that first foot is important, then yeah, maybe it's worth a try.
b/c) My point is that if you give a range, companies will tend to offer towards the lower end of that range. It doesn't matter how many years experience you have or what you change the range dates to. If you are going to give a range, you are essentially giving a low end that you will accept. Many companies will take advantage of that.