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How to Answer the Salary Expectations Question

It usually arrives in the first call, often from a recruiter who is friendly and moving quickly: "So, what are your salary expectations?"

Most candidates answer from instinct and regret it. The question is answerable well, but only if you have done twenty minutes of work beforehand.

Do the research first

You need three numbers before you speak to anyone:

  • Your walk-away number. Below this you would decline. This is about your circumstances, not the market.
  • Your target. What the role is worth in this market, for someone with your experience.
  • Your ambitious number. Justifiable, at the top of the band, the figure you would be delighted with.

Get the market figure from more than one place. Published salary surveys, roles advertised with transparent bands, and — best of all — people doing the job. Adverts that include a range are the most honest signal available, and there are more of them every year.

For international and remote roles, establish early whether the company pays by role or by location. A company that pays a single global rate and one that adjusts to local cost of living will make very different offers for identical work.

Who names a number first

The standard advice is "never name a number first". That is too rigid. In practice, recruiters usually need a figure to proceed, and refusing outright can read as difficult.

A better approach is to try once to get their range, and then answer if they hold:

"I'd rather match your range than guess — what have you budgeted for the role?"

Many recruiters will simply tell you. If they do not, give a range whose bottom you would genuinely accept, because the bottom is what they will hear:

"Based on what I've seen for similar roles, I'm looking in the region of X to Y, depending on the overall package and scope."

Set X at your target, not your walk-away.

Never anchor on your current salary

Your current pay is a fact about your last employer, not about the value of this role. If asked directly — and in some places it is unlawful to ask — redirect:

"I'd rather focus on the value of this role. Based on my research, I'm targeting around X."

If you are currently underpaid, anchoring on that number carries the underpayment into the next job, and the one after.

Negotiate the package, not just the base

When base salary is genuinely capped, other things are often not:

  • Signing bonus
  • Equity, and the vesting schedule
  • An earlier first review, with criteria written down
  • Annual leave
  • Training and conference budget
  • Equipment and home-office allowance
  • Formal flexibility on hours or location

A review at six months with agreed criteria is frequently easier for a manager to grant than an extra few thousand today — and can be worth more.

When the offer comes

Three things to remember:

Do not accept on the call. Thank them warmly, ask for it in writing, and ask for a little time. Nobody sensible withdraws an offer because you wanted to read it.

Ask once, clearly, with a reason. A single specific request lands far better than repeated haggling: "I'm really pleased with this. Based on the scope we discussed and what I've seen in the market, could we get the base to X? If we can do that, I'm ready to sign."

Then honour it. If they meet your number, accept. Moving the goalposts after they have stretched damages the relationship before you have started.

The mindset that helps

By offer stage, the company has invested significant time in you and would rather not restart. Negotiating reasonably is expected, and in most places it is normal. The risk of asking politely once is close to zero; the cost of not asking compounds for years.