“What Are Your Salary Expectations?”
This question is usually asked early, often by a recruiter in the first screen, and it decides more of your compensation than any later negotiation. Answer too early and you set your own ceiling. Refuse outright and you read as difficult. The way through is a sequence, not a single line.
Step 1: ask for their range first
Most companies have a band before they have a candidate, and in a growing number of places they are legally required to publish it. Asking is normal and costs nothing:
“Before I give a number — do you have a range budgeted for this role? I'd rather check we're in the same territory than guess.”
Roughly half the time you get the band, and the question is over. You now negotiate inside a range you did not set.
Step 2: if they insist, give a researched range
“I don't know” is not an option — it reads as unprepared. Give a range, and make clear it is based on the market rather than on your feelings:
“Based on what I'm seeing for this level in Berlin, I'd expect somewhere between €85k and €100k base. That's flexible depending on the rest of the package.”
Three rules for the range: put the number you actually want at the bottom of it — that is the number people hear; keep the spread modest, around 15%; and name base separately from equity and bonus, or the conversation gets muddled.
Step 3: never anchor on your current salary
Your current pay is not evidence of your market value, and in several countries asking for it is now illegal. If it comes up:
“I'd rather anchor on the market for this role than on my current package — my current one is a couple of years old and the scope here is different.”
Said once, calmly, this ends the line of questioning almost every time.
What if you are underpaid now?
This is exactly why the previous rule matters. If you are €20k under market, naming your current salary hands the company a €20k discount. Anchor on research: job ads for the same level, salary reports for your country, and what people in your network are actually paid.
What if your expectation is above their band?
Better to find out in the first call than in the fifth. If they say your range is above budget, ask what the band is and decide. Sometimes the honest answer is that the roles are not compatible — that is a good outcome discovered cheaply, not a failure.
Phrases that cost money
- “I'm flexible.” Reads as “make me an offer at the bottom”.
- “Whatever you think is fair.” The same, with less dignity.
- A single exact number, early. It becomes the ceiling, never the floor.
- “I currently make X.” See above.
The whole thing in three lines
- Ask for their range.
- If pressed, give a researched range with the number you want at the bottom.
- Do not mention your current salary.
Saying it without flinching
The hard part is not knowing the answer, it is delivering it steadily when the recruiter asks in the first four minutes. Interview Copilot shows a market-anchored answer as the question is asked — and by design it will not invent a figure you never gave it, which is exactly the mistake that costs money here.