Topic: Salary history vs salary requirements

I'm an RN working in a non-patient-care position with a small company.  When I was hired  3 years ago,  I had been a  Vocational Nurse  for about 13 years and was about to finish RN school. I was getting great pay for a vocational nurse, initally, but after passing my RN exams got only a small raise... and then we had a salary freeze, and I've never gotten another raise.  They keep telling me that better days are coming, and I should hold on, but it's been two years. I am now looking for another position for many reasons, one of which is I that  I can barely make it on my salary. 

I am lucky to live in an area where RN jobs are still pretty plentiful.   I have been to a few interviews and even gotten a couple of offers.  However, when we discuss salary and the interviewer sees on the application what I've been making, it gets awkward.  Either they assume I'm happy with that and try to make me a disappointingly low offer, or they want an explanation, and  from their tone I gather they're assuming that my low wage may reflect a substandard job performance.  For the record, I have a long, steady job history, with no holes and no terminations.    How do I broach salary with employers-- that I know I've been underpaid for a few years, and I expect more from a new position?  Should I always fill out the salary history portion of an application? What is the best way to find out what I should be making? And what "evidence" do I need to bring to an interviewer to prove that I'm worthy of a bigger salary? (Just saying that my friends that have made the LVN-to-RN transition are making $4-8 more per hour than I am seems silly, like "my friends have it and I want it too"!  But I do.)

Re: Salary history vs salary requirements

First off, if you're asked about your salary history, I think you have to provide the information.  But I also think you can make it clear, either in your cover letter, or during an interview, that the primary reason you're looking for other opportunities is because your salary has been unusually low for the last X years, particularly in light of the fact that you've completed the work for your RN.  Also have a list of accomplishments available, assuming they're not on your resume already.  It should list things like goals met, tasks successfully completed, responsibilities assumed, initiatives taken, anything that will clearly illustrate the quality of your job performance.  Also have a list of professional references lined up - at least 3 people who can confirm the overall quality of your job performance - so a prospective employer can call them and obtain confirmation of the successes you've listed, (make sure you ask these folks to be references for you first, so they'll be expecting a call from a prospective employer and willingly accept it).  If you're asked what sort of salary you have in mind, I think you need to be prepared with a realistic salary range in which you want to be.  Either in your cover letter or during a job interview, be prepared to write or say something like, "My anticipated salary is negotiable within the $X to $Y range."  Just be sure you don't put down a range that's not a huge jump over what you've been earning - it just needs to be reasonable - 10% to 15% more than you've been earning or 15% to 20% more at most.  If you're NOT asked, wait and see what sort of offer is forthcoming.  If it's an offer you'd otherwise be happy to accept - accept it!  If you think it's low, politely ask if it's negotiable and see what they say.  If it's not, decline the offer and keep looking.  If it is negotiable, and you're asked what amount you have in mind, counter with your anticipated range - whatever you've decided is reasonable under the circumstances.  The ultimate point is, the reason you're looking is to earn a salary that's more in keeping not only with your past job performance, but your level of experience, skill, training, and education - and there's nothing at all wrong with making that clear to whomever you're interviewing with.  Make sense?