How to Handle the 'What Are Your Salary Expectations?' Question

How do you answer the salary expectations question in an interview?

Answer with a researched range, not a single number, and try to defer once before you commit. Anchor on the 75th-to-90th percentile for your role, level, and metro. Frame it as total compensation (base plus equity plus signing) rather than base alone. If the recruiter accepts a deferral, push the final number until you have a written offer in hand.

The defer-then-range script

Most candidates hand the recruiter a single number on the first ask. That's almost always a losing move. Use this two-step instead.

Step 1 — Defer (try this first). "I'm still learning about the scope here. I'd love to talk total compensation once we're sure the role's a fit. Is that okay?" Roughly half the time, recruiters will accept this and move on. The other half push back politely — and that's fine, you've signaled you take the conversation seriously.

Step 2 — Range, framed as research. If they push: "Based on what I'm seeing for this level in this metro, total comp in the X-Y range. I'm focused on the right team and the right work — happy to go deeper on what I'm seeing if it's useful." The "research" framing matters: you're not asserting your worth, you're reporting the market.

The Indeed Career Guide on salary negotiation consistently finds that candidates who anchor on a researched range — not their last salary, not a personal target — secure measurably higher offers than those who give a single number off the cuff.

Research the right range

Three sources, triangulated. Never trust just one.

1. A public salary aggregator for the company and level. Look at the median and the 75th percentile for your specific role title and your specific metro.
2. A jobs board with reported ranges. Many U.S. states now require employers to post a range on the job listing. Read it. The top of that range is your floor for the conversation.
3. One or two real-world data points. Find someone at the company, your level, your metro. A 5-minute LinkedIn message asking "would you be willing to share what the comp band looks like?" succeeds more often than candidates expect.

Per the LinkedIn Talent Blog's negotiation research, candidates who cite specific market data in their first comp conversation receive offers 8-12% higher than those who don't, even when the cited data is publicly available.

What to never say

Three answers that quietly tank your leverage:

• Your current salary. In most U.S. states the employer can't legally ask, and even where they can, sharing anchors your next offer to your last. Redirect to expectations.
• "Whatever's fair." This is the worst answer. The recruiter now has to guess your range, and they'll guess low to protect the budget. You've moved control to the other side of the table.
• A single specific number. "I'm looking for $145,000." Now the only direction the offer can move is down. Always a range.

After you have the offer

The expectations conversation isn't the negotiation. The real negotiation happens after the offer letter arrives. Wait for it in writing. Read it twice. Identify the levers that are actually movable (often: signing bonus, equity refresh, start date) versus the ones that aren't (often: base, in companies with strict bands).

Then come back with a specific, evidence-backed counter — not a vague "is there room to move?" Recruiters respond to data, not to vibes.

About the author: Alex Chen is the founder of InterviewChamp.AI and writes about the modern tech interview from the inside — what changed, what works for new grads, and where the old playbook fails.