"What are your salary expectations" is asked at the phone screen, and the answer is a range whose bottom is the number you would accept and whose top is the market's top for the role. The range comes from data, not from your last salary and not from a guess. In a growing number of places the employer has to publish the range first, and then the answer is "the posted range works for me, and I would want to be in the upper part of it given X". The mistake is a single number said early, which becomes the ceiling, or a dodge, which recruiters hear fifty times a week and which does not work.
Key points
- A range, from the market, with the bottom at the number you would accept.
- Where the law makes them post a range, anchor to theirs, in the upper half.
- Give it at the screen when asked. The dodge does not work and costs goodwill.
- In a form field that wants one number, put the midpoint of your range.
- Never your current salary. It is not the question, and in many places they cannot ask.
Where the number comes from
| Source | What it gives |
|---|---|
| The wages page on this site | The median and the tenth percentile by occupation and state, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics |
| The posting's range, where posted | The employer's own budget. The top of it is reachable. |
| Postings for the same title on the board, filtered by place | What the market is offering this month |
| The H-1B page on this site | Wages employers declared for sponsored roles by title and employer, which is a floor for that employer |
| People who do the role, asked directly | The number that the data does not show, like bonus and equity |
The wages page gives a median. A role with the must-haves you have and the years you have sits above or below it, and the postings on the board say which. Your range is from a little under the median to the market top, adjusted for the place: the same title pays differently in different states, and the page shows it.
The range is the market's. Your current salary is not in it.
What to say
At the screen, when asked:
"From what I see for this role in [place], the range is about [bottom] to [top]. I would want to be in the upper part of that given [the one thing: the years, the specific skill the posting names]. Is that in line with the budget?"
The question at the end makes it a conversation. If their range is lower, you learn it now and not after four interviews. If it is higher, they will say so, or they will say "that works", and the negotiation guide picks up from there.
Where the posting shows a range:
"The posted range works for me. Given [the one thing], I would expect to be in the upper half."
The form field
A form that wants one number gets the midpoint of your range. A form that lets you write text gets "open, in the range of [bottom] to [top] depending on the full package". A form that lets you skip it, skip it. A field with "0" or "negotiable" is read as a dodge by the system or the person.
The dodge
"I would rather hear your range first" works when the law is on your side and the employer has a range they are allowed to tell you. It does not work with a recruiter whose script says to get a number, and refusing twice costs you the screen. One try, then the range.
"What is the budget for the role?" is a fair question to ask first, once, and many recruiters answer it. Then your range is in reply to theirs.
Where they have to tell you
A growing list of US states and cities require a salary range in the posting or on request: Colorado, California, Washington, New York, Illinois and others, with the list changing yearly. The EU pay transparency directive requires the range before the interview across member states as it comes into force. In those places, ask for it before the screen and anchor to it. Many of the same places ban asking your salary history, so a question about your current salary can be declined with "I am not able to share that, and here is the range I am looking for".
The market pages, on this site
The wages page is the number for the occupation and the state. The H-1B page is the number an employer declared it pays for the same title, which is a floor they have signed. The board shows the ranges employers post, which in transparent states is most of them. Ten minutes across the three gives a range you can say out loud and defend.
Questions
What if my range is above their budget?
You find out at the screen, which is the point of asking. Decide then whether the rest of the package or the role is worth the gap. Most of the time it is not, and the screen saved you a month.
Do I give a single number instead of a range?
A single number is a ceiling. A range with a defended bottom is a floor. The range.
What about equity and bonus?
The question is usually about base. Say so: "that range is base. I would want to understand the bonus and equity separately." The guide on evaluating an offer has how to value them.
They asked my current salary. Do I have to answer?
In many places they cannot ask, and anywhere you can decline. "I would rather talk about the range for this role, which is [range]."
Does the range change for remote roles?
Often. Many employers pay by the location of the person. The guide on what remote means has the bands, and the remote page on this site has which industries pay location-independent.