"What are your salary expectations?" - the exact answer (word for word)

The situation. You’re somewhere between a first recruiter screen and a late-stage interview, and the question lands: “So, what are your salary expectations?” Answer too low and you’ve anchored the entire process beneath your market value. Throw out something defensive and you sound difficult. Most candidates improvise this moment; it’s the single most expensive improvisation in tech hiring.

What’s actually happening. When a recruiter asks early, they’re usually screening, checking you’re in the same universe as the budget before anyone invests more time. When it’s asked seriously, later, something different is happening: they already see you as a real candidate, and they’re testing whether a deal is reachable. Either way, two facts shape your answer. First: whatever number you say becomes the anchor. Companies rarely offer meaningfully above a number you volunteered. Second: a range is heard as its bottom. Say “150 to 180” and the recruiter writes down that 150 is acceptable, because to them, it now is.

How to build your number before you need it. Check the realistic market for your role, level, and location: comp data, trusted peers, what recruiters have quoted you. Pick the number you’d genuinely be happy to accept. Then add 10–15% on top: that headroom is your negotiation room, so that when the final number lands a little below your ask, it lands on your happy number instead of under it.

What to say, word for word:

“It’s a bit hard for me to give a very precise number in isolation, because I don’t know your full package yet: things like equity, bonuses, vacation. Money matters, of course, but it’s not the only thing that matters to me; what’s even more important is a role that really challenges me, and from what I’ve seen so far, this opportunity has that. But if you need my expectations in one line: I’m looking for around [your number].”

Then stop talking. The silence after the number is part of the answer. Most candidates undo their own ask in the next ten seconds with “…but I’m flexible.”

If it’s a very early screen and you’d rather not commit yet:

“I’d love to understand the role and the full package before locking a specific number. Compensation for me is the whole picture, not just base. If it helps for screening: I’m aligned with market for this level, and happy to get specific once I understand the scope.”

The mistakes that cost the most: giving a range (they anchor to the bottom) · anchoring to your current salary instead of the market (your history is not your price tag) · answering a serious ask with “whatever’s fair” (reads as inexperience, not humility) · explaining after the number (the silence is the move).